By CHELYEN DAVIS

RICHMOND

Stuart, R-Westmoreland, has submitted bills to the General Assembly that would reward businesses with a tax credit if they expand or locate in noncongested areas of the state.

Stuart proposes to temporarily cut in half (from 6 percent to 3 percent) the state corporate income tax for companies that expand in an area that the federal Environmental Protection Agency has said is an "attainment area." Much of Northern Virginia is considered a "non-attainment" area under some EPA clean air standards.

Stuart hopes to lure Northern Virginia companies into Stafford County, or other parts of the region, by providing an incentive for them to open satellite offices in less congested parts of the state. His tax credit would be good for three years and would be capped at whatever amount the company spent in building a new satellite office.

Stuart thinks this would encourage companies to expand, and also to expand where workers live, thus improving the quality of life for employees.

"We have a huge work force in Stafford and the Northern Neck" and other parts of the region, where people routinely commute an hour or two hours to work, Stuart said. "Bring the businesses to where the work force is, instead of trying to bring the work force to where the businesses are."

He thinks his plan would help get cars off Northern Virginia's clogged roads.

"We have struggled at the General Assembly to try to address our transportation issues," Stuart said. "We need to look at this equation differently."

Stuart also wants to offer the tax credit to out-of-state businesses, to encourage them to relocate to Virginia. As with the first bill, he proposes cutting the corporate income tax in half for three years, up to the amount of their capital investment, for companies that relocate to attainment areas in Virginia.

Other states are responding to the recession by raising taxes, Stuart said.

"I believe that presents an opportunity for Virginia, to reach out to these businesses," he said. "We need incentives to attract them."

Stuart is one of many legislators proposing bills to help create jobs, prompted by the economic recession.

Some bills would eliminate the corporate income tax entirely, but Stuart said he thinks that's "not realistic."

Eliminating the corporate income tax "would put too much of a burden on individuals," he said.

One potential problem with his bills: They refer to attainment and non-attainment areas, and Stuart said the EPA has just announced it may make changes to those designations. Stuart is considering having his legislation apply to "congested areas" and noncongested areas, but to do that he'll have to write a legal definition of "congested area" for his bills.

He also has a constitutional amendment that would allow localities to exempt businesses from local property taxes for three years in certain cases.

Chelyen Davis:
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com