| 1 | 1 | | By: Stickland H.B. No. 3948 |
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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 | | r |
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| 7 | 7 | | elating to the review of the economic impact of the immigrant |
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| 8 | 8 | | investor visa program. |
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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. Title 99, Business & Commerce Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | adding Chapter 2005 to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | CHAPTER 2005. NOTIFICATION OF ISSUANCE OF EB-5 IMMIGRANT VISAS |
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| 13 | 13 | | Sec. 2005.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (1) "Commercial enterprise" and "regional center" |
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| 15 | 15 | | have the meanings assigned by 8 C.F.R. Section 204.6. |
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| 16 | 16 | | (2) "Program" means the EB-5 immigrant investor visa |
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| 17 | 17 | | program administered by United States Citizenship and Immigration |
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| 18 | 18 | | Services. |
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| 19 | 19 | | Sec. 2005.002. NOTIFICATION OF ISSUANCE OF VISAS. (a) To |
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| 20 | 20 | | the extent allowed under federal law, a regional center shall |
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| 21 | 21 | | notify the Texas Workforce Commission and each municipality or |
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| 22 | 22 | | county of each EB-5 immigrant visa issued under the program in |
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| 23 | 23 | | exchange for an investment in a commercial enterprise located in |
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| 24 | 24 | | the municipality or county. |
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| 25 | 25 | | (b) The notification must include: |
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| 26 | 26 | | (1) the number of individuals granted an EB-5 |
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| 27 | 27 | | immigrant visa in exchange for an investment in the commercial |
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| 28 | 28 | | enterprise; and |
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| 29 | 29 | | (2) the number of jobs created or preserved or that may |
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| 30 | 30 | | be created or preserved in the municipality or county by the |
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| 31 | 31 | | investments in the commercial enterprise by the individuals |
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| 32 | 32 | | described by Subdivision (1). |
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| 33 | 33 | | SECTION 2. (a) In this section, "program" means the EB-5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | immigrant investor visa program administered by United States |
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| 35 | 35 | | Citizenship and Immigration Services. |
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| 36 | 36 | | (b) The Texas Workforce Commission shall conduct a study of |
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| 37 | 37 | | the impact of the program in this state. |
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| 38 | 38 | | (c) The study, to the extent practicable, must: |
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| 39 | 39 | | (1) identify the number of direct jobs created under |
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| 40 | 40 | | the program in this state at the state, regional, and targeted |
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| 41 | 41 | | employment area levels, including a timeline of the job creation; |
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| 42 | 42 | | (2) identify the number of indirect jobs created under |
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| 43 | 43 | | the program in this state at the state, regional, and targeted |
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| 44 | 44 | | employment area levels, including a timeline of the job creation; |
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| 45 | 45 | | (3) evaluate the economic impact of the investments of |
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| 46 | 46 | | each regional center at the state, county, city, and targeted |
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| 47 | 47 | | employment area levels; |
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| 48 | 48 | | (4) measure the typical lifespan of a project funded |
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| 49 | 49 | | by the program and the jobs created under the program; |
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| 50 | 50 | | (5) identify the total amount invested under the |
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| 51 | 51 | | program in this state at the state, county, city, and targeted |
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| 52 | 52 | | employment area levels; |
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| 53 | 53 | | (6) categorize the types of projects funded under the |
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| 54 | 54 | | program; |
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| 55 | 55 | | (7) identify the projects funded under the program |
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| 56 | 56 | | that receive state or local tax exemptions; |
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| 57 | 57 | | (8) identify the number of EB-5 visa recipients who |
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| 58 | 58 | | invest in this state and who are residents of this state; |
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| 59 | 59 | | (9) identify the percentage of EB-5 visa recipients in |
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| 60 | 60 | | this state by each country of origin; |
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| 61 | 61 | | (10) evaluate the effectiveness of the program in |
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| 62 | 62 | | providing various benefits to local communities, including job |
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| 63 | 63 | | creation, investment, and other benefits the commission considers |
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| 64 | 64 | | important; |
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| 65 | 65 | | (11) evaluate the relationships between the regional |
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| 66 | 66 | | centers and local economic development organizations or municipal |
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| 67 | 67 | | governments; |
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| 68 | 68 | | (12) evaluate whether the jobs created by program |
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| 69 | 69 | | investments are generally aligned with the skill levels of the |
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| 70 | 70 | | residents in the area where the jobs are created; and |
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| 71 | 71 | | (13) identify the proportion of jobs created by the |
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| 72 | 72 | | program that are filled by residents of the targeted employment |
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| 73 | 73 | | area versus those filled by persons who reside outside the targeted |
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| 74 | 74 | | employment area. |
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| 75 | 75 | | SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2016, the Texas |
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| 76 | 76 | | Workforce Commission shall submit a report of the results of the |
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| 77 | 77 | | study to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the members of |
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| 78 | 78 | | the legislature. |
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| 79 | 79 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 80 | 80 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 81 | 81 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 82 | 82 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 83 | 83 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |
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