TNInvestco may sharpen headquarters provision

Sometime soon, the General Assembly may, as long anticipated, expand the initial round of TNInvestco, retroactively, to include two more firms. Along the way, legislators may also endorse Revenue Commmissioner Reagan Farr's request to strengthen requirements that any out-of-state ventures that receive TNInvestco funds must relocate their headquarters and principal operations to Tennessee. There'd been rumblings for months from several TNInvestcos that they were finding some out-of-state prospects very appealing. Although recruiting funds here may galvanize small-business advocates who feel there are too many incentives for non-indigenous businesses, already, the requirement would probably accelerate "jobs-creation," by transplanting jobs, rather than growing them from seed-stage. That change, in turn, could strengthen the case not only for a $40MM expansion of the program, but for yet a further increment of $40MM, bringing the total tax-credit value to $200MM. At the same time, some Republican legislators have indicated they are wary of expanding the TNInvestco program further before it has been reviewed for effectiveness, and before a new governor -- whom many think will be a Republican -- takes office in January. TNInvestco legislation has, thus far, been mainly bipartisan. Related story by Erin Lawley, in NashvillePost.