As a part of the governor’s call for a special session to promote job creation in the state, an Assembly committee considered and proposed revisions to a bill that would create tax credits for environmentally friendly businesses.

Assembly Bill 61 was addressed at a meeting of the Committee on Jobs, Economy and Small Business in congruence with the special executive session called by Gov. Scott Walker.

As outlined in the meeting by the Legislative Council, the bill would create an income and franchise tax credit for companies to construct a green data center, which stores and processes information from the lighting, mechanical, electrical and computer systems of infrastructures in order to create the most energy saving system. 

This tax credit applies only to companies that create systems designed for maximum energy efficiency and minimum environmental impact.

Assembly Bill 61 is both a financial and an environmental issue. To qualify for this tax credit, a company’s use of a number of environmentally damaging chemicals must be less than 25 percent of the proportion currently allowed under federal regulations.

The bill outlines a $2 million maximum credit claim amount to any one party.

At the meeting, several amendments to Assembly Bill 61 were introduced to the committee and voted on. The amendments focused on the financial aspects of the bill rather than the environmental aspects.

The first amendment addressed moves the date for credit allocation from June 2012 to January 2012. The change requires the state of Wisconsin to certify at least two businesses to receive tax credits. This motion carried with a vote of 12 to 2.

At the meeting Rep. Peggy Krusick, D-Milwaukee, proposed an amendment that would require companies receiving this tax credit to post how they are spending the money being saved. Krusick said that tax credits are expensive for the state, so she would like to know where the money was ending up and prevent these tax credits from merely being used to provide raises to CEOs and CFOs.

Rep. Peggy Bernard Schaber, D-Appleton, said she was in favor of Krusick’s amendment and said the state needs to be more cautious about how the money of taxpayers is spent.

However, Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greendale, said at the meeting Krusick’s amendment was too far reaching in reaction to this specific of a bill. The committee voted against Krusick’s amendment by a vote of 13 to 2.

Special sessions have been held in the past to push issues like job creation, Walker said in a recent statement on the totality of the special session. He said special sessions can be a forum for efficient bipartisan negotiation and can be used to deal with many pieces of important legislation at once.

In a statement, Walker said the special session will provide certainty for business leaders in the state.

“We sent a message to job creators in January that we would improve our business climate,” Walker said. “Now we renew that message as we work to give job creators the confidence they need to put Wisconsin back to work.”