Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB2785 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: J. Davis of Harris, Reynolds, Murphy H.B. No. 2785
2	2	(Senate Sponsor - Shapiro
3	3	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 11, 2011;
4	4	April 26, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
5	5	Economic Development; May 5, 2011, reported favorably by the
6	6	following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 5, 2011, sent to printer.)
7	7
8	8
9	9	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
10	10	AN ACT
11	11	relating to the creation of the Select Committee on Economic
12	12	Development.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Act is to ensure
15	15	that economic development initiatives in this state are effective
16	16	in encouraging new investment, employment, and income and in
17	17	retaining existing facilities and employment. The economic
18	18	development incentives must be appropriately sized and directed and
19	19	administratively efficient and must allow this state to compete
20	20	with other states. It is the intent of the legislature to develop
21	21	objective criteria to evaluate the state's economic development
22	22	initiatives that reflect sound economic principles appropriately
23	23	applied in light of the diverse nature of the initiatives and the
24	24	state's economy.
25	25	SECTION 2. DEFINITION. In this Act, "committee" means the
26	26	Select Committee on Economic Development.
27	27	SECTION 3. COMPOSITION. (a) The Select Committee on
28	28	Economic Development is composed of 12 members as follows:
29	29	(1) four public members appointed by the governor:
30	30	(A) two of whom must be owners or employees of a
31	31	business with significant operations in this state; and
32	32	(B) one of whom must be a member of the governing
33	33	body of a municipality or county;
34	34	(2) two public members appointed by the lieutenant
35	35	governor, one of whom must be an owner or employee of a business
36	36	with significant operations in this state;
37	37	(3) two members of the senate appointed by the
38	38	lieutenant governor;
39	39	(4) two public members appointed by the speaker of the
40	40	house of representatives, one of whom must be an owner or employee
41	41	of a business with significant operations in this state; and
42	42	(5) two members of the house of representatives
43	43	appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.
44	44	(b) Each individual required to make an appointment under
45	45	Subsection (a) of this section shall make the appointment as soon as
46	46	possible after the effective date of this Act, but not later than
47	47	November 1, 2011.
48	48	SECTION 4. PRESIDING OFFICER; MEETINGS. (a) The governor
49	49	shall select the presiding officer of the committee from among the
50	50	committee members.
51	51	(b) The committee shall meet at the call of the presiding
52	52	officer.
53	53	SECTION 5. COMMITTEE DUTIES. The committee shall:
54	54	(1) recommend to the legislature an economic
55	55	development policy for the state;
56	56	(2) conduct a study and make recommendations to the
57	57	legislature regarding state and local economic development
58	58	incentives;
59	59	(3) develop criteria for evaluating the effectiveness
60	60	of existing economic development policies and incentives in this
61	61	state and make recommendations the committee considers necessary to
62	62	improve those policies and incentives, taking into account:
63	63	(A) aspects of the state and local tax systems
64	64	that encourage or hinder economic activity in the state;
65	65	(B) the types or categories of businesses
66	66	eligible for incentives and whether the promotion or encouragement
67	67	of a specific type or category of business activity is in the best
68	68	long-term interest of the state and the citizens of this state;
69	69	(C) the extent to which an incentive should
70	70	encourage the maintenance or expansion of existing capital
71	71	investment within this state or attract new capital investment from
72	72	outside this state;
73	73	(D) the extent to which an incentive should
74	74	encourage the retention or expansion of existing employment within
75	75	this state or encourage the creation of additional employment,
76	76	either at existing or new business locations in this state;
77	77	(E) the direct effects of the business activity
78	78	qualifying for the incentive and the indirect and induced effects
79	79	associated with that activity on capital investment, employment,
80	80	wages, salaries, state and local tax revenues, and demands for
81	81	state or local public services;
82	82	(F) how the incentives offered in this state
83	83	compare to those available in other states or countries, and how
84	84	those differences affect business decisions to invest in this state
85	85	or outside this state; and
86	86	(G) whether and to what extent a particular
87	87	incentive should take the form of a direct grant of state or local
88	88	revenue, the abatement, deferral, or limitation of a state or local
89	89	tax, fee, or assessment, the provision of a specific service or
90	90	program designed to benefit the business, or other direct or
91	91	indirect financing mechanism;
92	92	(4) consider the benefits of consolidating state and
93	93	local economic development incentives into a single statewide
94	94	office or agency;
95	95	(5) evaluate existing state or local economic
96	96	development incentives and make recommendations regarding the
97	97	continuation, elimination, or modification of those incentives
98	98	based on the criteria developed under Subdivision (3) of this
99	99	section; and
100	100	(6) make recommendations on whether the state should
101	101	adopt new incentives to better accomplish the state's economic
102	102	development policy.
103	103	SECTION 6. REPORT. Not later than January 1, 2013, the
104	104	committee shall submit a report of the committee's findings,
105	105	studies, and recommendations to:
106	106	(1) the governor;
107	107	(2) the lieutenant governor;
108	108	(3) the speaker of the house of representatives; and
109	109	(4) each member of the legislature.
110	110	SECTION 7. STAFF. On the committee's request, the
111	111	Legislative Budget Board, Texas Legislative Council, office of the
112	112	governor, senate, and house of representatives shall provide the
113	113	staff necessary to assist the committee in performing its duties.
114	114	SECTION 8. COOPERATION OF STATE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT, OR
115	115	OFFICE. If needed to perform the duties of the committee, the
116	116	committee may request the assistance of a state agency, department,
117	117	or office. The state agency, department, or office shall provide
118	118	the committee with the requested assistance.
119	119	SECTION 9. EXPENSES. (a) The operating expenses of the
120	120	committee shall be paid from available funds of the office of the
121	121	governor, the senate, and the house of representatives, as agreed
122	122	to by those entities.
123	123	(b) When attending committee meetings, a public member of
124	124	the committee shall be allowed the same mileage and per diem as are
125	125	allowed members of the legislature who attend a committee meeting
126	126	when the legislature is not in session.
127	127	SECTION 10. EXPIRATION DATE. The committee is abolished
128	128	and this Act expires September 1, 2013.
129	129	SECTION 11. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect
130	130	September 1, 2011.
131	131	* * * * *