Amends TCA Title 4; Title 49 and Title 67.

This bill creates a Center for Employee Ownership, which will operate as a unit of the University of Memphis, to support the growth and expansion of employee-owned businesses by, among other things: (1) Providing education and outreach to inform business owners about the benefits of employee ownership and employee ownership in succession planning; (2) Providing consultation to business owners exploring the possibility of transferring full or partial ownership to employees; (3) Providing a referral service to help business owners find legal, financial, and technical advice in connection with employee ownership successions; and (4) Providing support and access in government relations, including providing access to information regarding rules and regulations that relate to employee ownership and develop proposals for changes in policies to promote employee ownership. This bill requires the center to submit, on or before January 1, 2023, a one-time report to the governor and members of the general assembly that assesses whether there is a need for additional low-interest loans to support employee-owned businesses in this state and includes findings and any legislative recommendations on expanding existing small business revolving loan funds to include employee-owned businesses. Also, this bill requires the department of economic and community development, in cooperation with the center to, on or before January 1, 2022, submit a one-time report to the governor and members of the general assembly that assesses whether there is a need for changes to the franchise and excise tax laws of this state to facilitate the creation or expansion of employee-owned businesses in this state, and if so, includes any findings and legislative recommendations. This bill provides, under the Excise Tax Law's provisions regarding net earnings and net losses, that the following will be subtracted from net earnings and losses: 50 percent of the amount of any gains from the sale of a business to employees or conversion of a business to employee ownership, if, after the transfer, employees or a qualified employee stock ownership plan own at least 50 percent of all outstanding securities issued by the corporation after completion of the transaction.