Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3086 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R10118 TJB-D
2	2	By: Murphy H.B. No. 3086
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the Texas Economic Development Act.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 313.021, Tax Code, is amended by
10	10	amending Subdivisions (3) and (5) and adding Subdivision (6) to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	(3) "Qualifying job" means a permanent full-time job
13	13	that:
14	14	(A) requires at least 1,600 hours of work a year;
15	15	(B) is not transferred from one area in this
16	16	state to another area in this state, unless the transfer represents
17	17	a net new job in this state;
18	18	(C) is not created to replace a previous
19	19	employee;
20	20	(D) is covered by a group health benefit plan for
21	21	which the business offers to pay at least 80 percent of the premiums
22	22	or other charges assessed for employee-only coverage under the
23	23	plan, regardless of whether an employee may voluntarily waive the
24	24	coverage; and
25	25	(E) pays at least 110 percent of the lesser of:
26	26	(i) the state median annual wage for
27	27	manufacturing jobs in this state; or
28	28	(ii) the county average annual [weekly]
29	29	wage for manufacturing jobs in the county where the job is located.
30	30	(F) In determining whether a property owner has
31	31	created the number of qualifying jobs required under this chapter,
32	32	operations, services, and other related jobs created in connection
33	33	with the project, including those employed by third parties under
34	34	contract, may satisfy the minimum qualifying jobs requirement for
35	35	the project if the Texas Workforce Commission determines that the
36	36	cumulative economic benefits to the state of these jobs is the same
37	37	or greater than that associated with the minimum number of
38	38	qualified jobs required to be created under this chapter. The Texas
39	39	Workforce Commission may adopt rules to implement this subsection.
40	40	(5) "County average annual [weekly] wage for
41	41	manufacturing jobs" and "county average annual wage for all jobs"
42	42	mean [means]:
43	43	(A) the average weekly wage in a county for
44	44	manufacturing jobs or for all jobs, as applicable, during the most
45	45	recent four quarterly periods for which data is available at the
46	46	time a person submits an application for a limitation on appraised
47	47	value under this subchapter, as computed by the Texas Workforce
48	48	Commission, multiplied by 52; or
49	49	(B) the average weekly wage for manufacturing
50	50	jobs or for all jobs, as applicable, in the region designated for
51	51	the regional planning commission, council of governments, or
52	52	similar regional planning agency created under Chapter 391, Local
53	53	Government Code, in which the county is located during the most
54	54	recent four quarterly periods for which data is available at the
55	55	time a person submits an application for a limitation on appraised
56	56	value under this subchapter, as computed by the Texas Workforce
57	57	Commission, multiplied by 52.
58	58	(6) "State median annual wage for manufacturing jobs"
59	59	and "state median annual wage for all jobs" mean the median annual
60	60	wage in this state for manufacturing jobs or for all jobs, as
61	61	applicable, during the most recent period for which data is
62	62	available at the time a person submits an application for a
63	63	limitation on appraised value under this subchapter, as computed by
64	64	the Texas Workforce Commission.
65	65	SECTION 2. Section 313.024(d), Tax Code, is amended to read
66	66	as follows:
67	67	(d) To be eligible for a limitation on appraised value under
68	68	this subchapter, the property owner must create the required number
69	69	of new qualifying jobs as defined by Section 313.021(3) and the
70	70	average annual [weekly] wage for all jobs created by the owner that
71	71	are not qualifying jobs must exceed the lesser of:
72	72	(1) the state median annual wage for all jobs in this
73	73	state; or
74	74	(2) the county average annual [weekly] wage for all
75	75	jobs in the county where the jobs are located.
76	76	SECTION 3. Section 313.025(f-1), Tax Code, is amended to
77	77	read as follows:
78	78	(f-1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter
79	79	to the contrary, including Section 313.003(2) or 313.004(3)(A) or
80	80	(B)(iii), the governing body of a school district may waive the new
81	81	jobs creation requirement in Section 313.021(2)(A)(iv)(b) or
82	82	313.051(b) and approve an application if the governing body makes a
83	83	finding that the jobs creation requirement exceeds the industry
84	84	standard for the number of employees reasonably necessary for the
85	85	operation of the facility of the property owner that is described in
86	86	the application. The governing body of a school district may not
87	87	waive a requirement in a new jobs creation requirement that the jobs
88	88	created be qualifying jobs.
89	89	SECTION 4. Sections 313.027(a-1) and (d), Tax Code, are
90	90	amended to read as follows:
91	91	(a-1) The agreement must:
92	92	(1) provide that the limitation under Subsection (a)
93	93	applies for a period of 10 years; [and]
94	94	(2) specify the beginning date of the limitation,
95	95	which must be January 1 of the first tax year that begins after:
96	96	(A) the application date;
97	97	(B) the qualifying time period; or
98	98	(C) the date commercial operations begin at the
99	99	site of the project;
100	100	(3) state the dollar amount of the qualified
101	101	investment that must be made; and
102	102	(4) state the number of new qualifying jobs that must
103	103	be created.
104	104	(d) The governing body of the school district and the
105	105	property owner shall enter into a written agreement for the
106	106	implementation of the limitation on appraised value under this
107	107	subchapter on the owner's qualified property. If an agreement does
108	108	not include information required by this section to be included in
109	109	the agreement, the relevant provisions of the approved application,
110	110	as amended if applicable, that is the basis of the agreement are
111	111	considered part of the written agreement.
112	112	SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 313, Tax Code, is amended
113	113	by adding Section 313.034 to read as follows:
114	114	Sec. 313.034. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. (a) A member of the
115	115	governing body of a school district, the superintendent of a school
116	116	district, an employee of a school district, or a person who provides
117	117	services to a school district who has a family, business,
118	118	commercial, or other relationship that could reasonably be expected
119	119	to diminish the person's independence of judgment in the
120	120	performance of the person's responsibilities relating to an
121	121	application submitted under this subchapter or an agreement entered
122	122	into under this subchapter shall disclose the relationship in
123	123	writing to the school district.
124	124	(b) A person who files a statement under Subsection (a)
125	125	disclosing a possible conflict of interest may not give advice or
126	126	make decisions about a matter affected by the possible conflict of
127	127	interest unless the school district expressly waives this
128	128	prohibition.
129	129	(c) The requirements of this section are in addition to any
130	130	other requirement prescribed by law.
131	131	SECTION 6. Sections 313.021, 313.024, 313.025, and 313.027,
132	132	Tax Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to an agreement entered
133	133	into under Chapter 313, Tax Code, on or after the effective date of
134	134	this Act. An agreement entered into under that chapter before the
135	135	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
136	136	date the agreement was entered into, and the former law is continued
137	137	in effect for that purpose.
138	138	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
139	139	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
140	140	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
141	141	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
142	142	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.