620.644.  Development of Missouri seed capital and commercialization strategy, required contents — no tax credits issued until corporation approves strategy tax credit maximum — corporation to approve managers of qualified funds — rulemaking authority, procedure — reporting requirements of corporation — qualified fund to provide annual audited financial statements. — 1.  The Missouri seed capital and commercialization strategy shall be jointly developed and approved by the boards of directors of all of the qualified economic development organizations and submitted as one plan to the corporation for its approval.  The board shall not approve any qualified fund, exclusive of the fund approved by the corporation, unless such fund is described in the Missouri seed capital and commercialization strategy.  The strategy shall include a proposal for the establishment and operation of between one and four qualified funds in Missouri, including the fund approved by the corporation pursuant to the provisions of section 620.653.  The initial strategy shall be submitted to the board no later than July 1, 2000, and shall be approved or rejected by the board within three months of receipt.  No tax credits authorized pursuant to the provisions of sections 620.635 to 620.653 shall be awarded until such strategy has been approved by the board, other than tax credits authorized for qualified contributions to the fund approved by the corporation.

  2.  The department shall authorize the use of up to twenty million dollars in tax credits by the approved qualified funds, in aggregate pursuant to the provisions of section 620.650, with not more than five million dollars of tax credits being issued in any one year.

  3.  The corporation shall approve the professional managers employed by the qualified funds according to criteria similar to that used by the U.S. Small Business Administration's Small Business Investment Corporation Program.

  4.  The department may promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to administer the provisions of sections 620.635 to 620.653.  No rule or regulation or portion of a rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to the authority of this section shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of chapter 536.

  5.  The corporation shall report the following to the department:

  (1)  As soon as practicable after the receipt of a qualified contribution the name of each person from which the qualified contribution was received, the amount of each contributor's qualified contribution and the tax credits computed pursuant to this section;

  (2)  On a quarterly basis, the amount of qualified investments made to any qualified business;

  (3)  On a quarterly basis, verification that the investment of seed capital, start-up capital, or follow-up capital in a qualified business does not direct more than ten percent of all the qualified contributions to a qualified fund to be invested in a single qualifying business.

  6.  Each qualified fund shall provide annual audited financial statements, including the opinion of an independent certified public accountant, to the department within ninety days of the close of the state fiscal year.  The audit shall address the methods of operation and conduct of the business of the qualified economic development organization to determine compliance with the statutes and program and program rules and that the qualified contributions received by the qualified fund have been invested as required by this section.