| 1 | 1 | | By: Strama H.B. No. 2866 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to encouraging technology-related economic development |
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| 7 | 7 | | projects that pay competitive compensation for associated |
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| 8 | 8 | | workforce. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 313.021, Tax Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | amending Subsection (3) to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (3) "Qualifying job" means a permanent full-time job |
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| 13 | 13 | | that: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (A) requires at least 1,600 hours of work a year; |
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| 15 | 15 | | (B) is not transferred from one area in this |
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| 16 | 16 | | state to another area in this state; |
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| 17 | 17 | | (C) is not created to replace a previous |
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| 18 | 18 | | employee; |
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| 19 | 19 | | (D) is covered by a group health benefit plan, as |
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| 20 | 20 | | defined by Section 481.151, Government Code, for which the business |
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| 21 | 21 | | offers to pay at least 80 percent of the premiums or other charges |
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| 22 | 22 | | assessed for employee-only coverage under the plan, regardless of |
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| 23 | 23 | | whether an employee may voluntarily waive the coverage; and |
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| 24 | 24 | | (E) pays the lesser of an average annual wage of |
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| 25 | 25 | | $50,000 or at least 110 percent of the county average weekly wage |
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| 26 | 26 | | for manufacturing jobs in the county where the job is located. |
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| 27 | 27 | | SECTION 2. Section 313.021, Tax Code, is amended by |
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| 28 | 28 | | amending Subsection (5) to read as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | (5) "County average weekly wage for manufacturing |
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| 30 | 30 | | jobs" means the average weekly wage in a county for manufacturing |
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| 31 | 31 | | jobs as computed by the Texas Workforce Commission. |
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| 32 | 32 | | SECTION 3. Section 313.024, Tax Code, is amended by |
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| 33 | 33 | | amending Subsection (b) to read as follows: |
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| 34 | 34 | | (b) To be eligible for a limitation on appraised value under |
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| 35 | 35 | | this subchapter, the entity must use the property in connection |
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| 36 | 36 | | with: |
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| 37 | 37 | | (1) manufacturing; |
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| 38 | 38 | | (2) research and development; |
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| 39 | 39 | | (3) a clean coal project, as defined by Section 5.001, |
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| 40 | 40 | | Water Code; |
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| 41 | 41 | | (4) an advanced clean energy project, as defined by |
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| 42 | 42 | | Section 382.003, Health and Safety Code; |
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| 43 | 43 | | (5) renewable energy electric generation; |
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| 44 | 44 | | (6) electric power generation using integrated |
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| 45 | 45 | | gasification combined cycle technology; [or] |
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| 46 | 46 | | (7) nuclear electric power generation[.]; |
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| 47 | 47 | | (8) computer operations facilities; or |
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| 48 | 48 | | (9) regional, national, or global corporation |
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| 49 | 49 | | headquarter operations. |
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| 50 | 50 | | SECTION 4. Section 313.024, Tax Code, is amended by |
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| 51 | 51 | | amending Subsection (e) to read as follows: |
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| 52 | 52 | | (5) "Computer operations facilities" means locations |
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| 53 | 53 | | engaged in computational processing and information storage. |
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| 54 | 54 | | (6) "Headquarter" means a location that serves as the |
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| 55 | 55 | | regional, national, or global administrative center of the business |
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| 56 | 56 | | and at which are located the offices of the management officials |
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| 57 | 57 | | responsible for key business-wide functions, including finance, |
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| 58 | 58 | | legal marketing, and human resource functions. |
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| 59 | 59 | | SECTION 5. Section 313.029, Tax Code, is repealed. |
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| 60 | 60 | | SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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