The UCP tabled Bill 10 to build on growing Alberta's prosperity to cut red tape and provide financial incentives to its residents, students and municipalities in the province..On Thursday, The Financial Statutes Amendment Act, 2023 was introduced and its purpose is to implement many of the technical measures introduced in Budget 2023..The UCP said proposed legislative amendments would implement measures to help build fiscal stability, attract investment, support children and families, cut red tape, improve provincial funding mechanisms, and make life more affordable for students..“Together, all the measures introduced in this bill would provide fiscal stability, and would ensure business investment continues to be preferential to Alberta," President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance Travis Toews said.."Bill 10 would help secure Alberta’s future by addressing some of the most urgent needs we’ve heard from families, students and municipalities throughout the province.”.Highlights of Bill 10 include:.• Legislating a new fiscal framework to mandate balanced budgets, limit expense increases and set policies for the allocation of surplus cash..• Enabling the government to keep all of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund’s investment income within the fund..• Enabling changes to Alberta’s charitable tax credit rate to come into effect for 2023..• Implementing a 2% cap on tuition increases..• Creating a new agri-processing tax credit program..• Covering dental, drug, vision and other supplemental health benefits for children adopted in Alberta from government care or a licensed adoption agency..• Boosting the adoption expenses tax credit for Alberta families and helping subsidize adoption costs for some families adopting through licensed adoption agencies. Tying future municipal funding levels more closely to provincial revenues..• Supporting the national implementation of a new delivery model for financial information in the securities regulatory system..• Creating new revenue opportunities, streamlining policies, and reducing red tape for credit unions..• Increasing flexibility within Alberta’s horse racing industry.."Alberta’s proposed fiscal framework would provide flexibility for revenue swings while adding more rigour around expense decisions, which are within the government’s control," Toews said.."First, the framework would mandate annual balanced budgets with limitations on in-year and year-over-year increases in expense, with the exception for specific circumstances such as an unexpected disaster or decline in revenue.".Toews said Bill 10 would also set policies for the allocation of surplus cash with at least half of any surplus going toward debt repayment.."Any remaining amount would be allocated to a new Alberta Fund, which would effectively serve as a holding account," Toews said.."Funds held in this account could only be used to fund additional contributions to the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, additional debt repayment or one-time spending initiatives.".Toews noted, ultimately, the framework would guide responsible fiscal management while providing the ability to meet Albertans’ needs both now and in the future.."It would allow us to continue to deliver the programs and services Albertans rely on while using their hard-earned tax dollars efficiently," Toews said.."We’re also streamlining the process to further grow the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund.".Toews said current legislation requires all the Heritage Fund’s net income not required to inflation-proof the fund is transferred to general revenue.."The proposed legislation would retain all income in the fund, and would require a directive from the treasury board to transfer any amount to fiscal revenue," Toews said.."If we had kept all of the previous earnings in the fund from day one, instead of $18 billion, we would have a fund approaching $300 billion.".Toews said as a lifelong Albertan, he wished the province had been in a position to start saving earlier.."However, the best day to start is today," Toews said..Toews said the bill will also help students in the province.."It will enable us to make life more affordable for students by limiting the average domestic tuition increase at 2% at most public post-secondary institutions starting in the 2024-25 academic year," Toews said..Bill 10 will also support expanding enrolment at private career colleges and help address Alberta’s workforce shortages.."Bill 10 will enable us to move forward with a new agri-processing tax credit that will improve our competitiveness and help attract large-scale investment, diversify the economy and create jobs for Albertans," Toews said.The Alberta Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit would provide a 12% non-refundable corporate tax credit to eligible corporations that make a minimum capital investment of $10 million in value-added agri-processing in Alberta..Toews said Bill 10 would also increase the adoption expenses tax credit and offset a portion of the cost of adoptions to help Albertans who want to start or grow their families through adoption..Another issue the UCP came across while talking to municipalities across Alberta is a need to have more predictable and consistent funding.."Our government has listened. We are delivering through proposed amendments to the Local Government Fiscal Framework Act that would tie future municipal funding levels to changes in provincial revenues," Toews said..'Bill 10 would also update the Revenue Index Factor in the Local Government Fiscal Framework with a legislative amendment that will strengthen the partnership with municipalities and enable them to share more fully in the ups and downs of provincial revenues.".Toews noted that starting in Budget 2025-26, percentage changes in municipal funding levels would be equal to percentage changes in provincial revenues from three years prior, allowing municipalities to plan more effectively for the future.."In other words, municipal funding amounts will increase or decrease at 100% of the percent change in provincial revenues, rather than 50% as previously legislated."."Bill 10 builds on this government’s commitment to cut red tape, by enabling Alberta to participate in the national implementation of a new delivery model for financial information in the securities regulatory system, saving companies time and money," Toews said.."Other red tape reduction amendments in the bill would create new revenue opportunities and streamline policies for credit unions as well as strengthen Alberta’s horse racing industry, supporting rural communities across our province.".The UCP said together, these amendments play an important role in securing Alberta’s future..“The fiscal framework is important to ensure both flexibility and sustainability over the long term," said Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta.."The proposed guardrails are flexible enough to ensure Albertans can expect reliable and quality public services even during difficult economic times, while also being stringent enough to help the province maintain the ‘smart spending band’ and set Alberta up for fiscal sustainability over the long term. This kind of fiscal discipline will pay dividends if we can stick to it.”
