Bill fails in General Assembly

While running for governor, Terry McAuliffe called for boosting a tax incentive designed to encourage private investment in the state's biotech industry.

"Terry McAuliffe proposes … increasing the current limit on investment tax credits for commercialization," the campaign stated in August 2013 in its platform.

"The current limit of $5 million … should be increased by an amount between $1 million to $2.5 million depending on budget conditions, with the increase specifically targeted to biotechnology and biomedical companies."

The so-called "angel investor" tax credit is given for investments in companies that have gross revenues of no more than $3 million a year. It's geared to help get backing for businesses seeking to commercialize research that they developed with colleges and universities.

The credit, which started in 1999, provides a state tax break of either: $50,000; the amount of an investor's annual state income tax bill; or the amount of the tax credit that state tax officials approve - whichever is the lowest of those three amounts.

Has McAuliffe succeeded in increasing the tax break fund for investors in small biotechs and biomedical companies?

The answer is no but not for lack of trying.

McAuliffe in December 2015 proposed increasing the tax credit pool from $5 million a year to $9 million, with $2 million of the pot earmarked for investors in bioscience projects. But the effort was killed in the General Assembly.

Brian Coy, McAuliffe's director of communications, declined to say whether the governor will take another shot at increasing the credit before leaving office in January 2018.

So for now, we rate that progress is "Stalled."