Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2246 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R6156 MWC-D
2	2	By: Shine H.B. No. 2246
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to companies in which employees have ownership interests
8	8	through employee stock ownership plans.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 301.004, Business Organizations Code, is
11	11	amended to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 301.004. AUTHORIZED PERSON. For purposes of this
13	13	title, a person is an authorized person with respect to:
14	14	(1) a professional association if the person is a
15	15	professional individual; [and]
16	16	(2) a [professional corporation or a] professional
17	17	limited liability company if the person is a professional
18	18	individual or professional organization; and
19	19	(3) a professional corporation if the person is:
20	20	(A) a professional individual;
21	21	(B) a professional organization; or
22	22	(C) an employee stock ownership plan, as
23	23	described by Section 303.0015, established by the corporation.
24	24	SECTION 2. Chapter 303, Business Organizations Code, is
25	25	amended by adding Section 303.0015 to read as follows:
26	26	Sec. 303.0015. AUTHORIZED PERSON. For purposes of this
27	27	chapter, an employee stock ownership plan, as defined by Section
28	28	4975(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, established by a
29	29	professional corporation, is an authorized person if:
30	30	(1) all of the voting trustees of the plan are
31	31	professional individuals who are licensed to provide at least one
32	32	category of the professional services described in the
33	33	corporation's certificate of formation; and
34	34	(2) the ownership interests in the plan are not
35	35	directly issued to any person other than the plan trust or a
36	36	professional individual licensed to provide at least one category
37	37	of the professional services described in the corporation's
38	38	certificate of formation.
39	39	SECTION 3. Chapter 481, Government Code, is amended by
40	40	adding Subchapter CC to read as follows:
41	41	SUBCHAPTER CC. EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP ASSISTANCE OFFICE
42	42	Sec. 481.451. ESTABLISHMENT OF EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP
43	43	ASSISTANCE OFFICE. The employee ownership assistance office is an
44	44	office within the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office.
45	45	Sec. 481.452. DUTIES. (a) The employee ownership
46	46	assistance office shall establish and administer for businesses in
47	47	this state:
48	48	(1) an outreach and information dissemination program
49	49	to foster increased awareness of employee stock ownership plans;
50	50	and
51	51	(2) a technical assistance program to assist
52	52	businesses in determining the feasibility of establishing an
53	53	employee stock ownership plan.
54	54	(b) The employee ownership assistance office shall make
55	55	available to businesses in this state information relating to
56	56	obtaining assistance under the programs established under
57	57	Subsection (a).
58	58	SECTION 4. Subchapter H, Chapter 2155, Government Code, is
59	59	amended by adding Section 2155.454 to read as follows:
60	60	Sec. 2155.454. PREFERENCE TO TEXAS EMPLOYEE-OWNED
61	61	COMPANIES. (a) In this section, "employee-owned company" means a
62	62	corporation in which a majority of the stock is held by an employee
63	63	stock ownership plan, as defined by Section 4975(e), Internal
64	64	Revenue Code of 1986.
65	65	(b) The comptroller and all state agencies purchasing goods
66	66	or services may give preference to an employee-owned company
67	67	domiciled in this state if other considerations are equal.
68	68	SECTION 5. Section 2161.001, Government Code, is amended by
69	69	amending Subdivision (2) and adding Subdivisions (3-a) and (3-b) to
70	70	read as follows:
71	71	(2) "Historically underutilized business" means an
72	72	entity with its principal place of business in this state that is:
73	73	(A) a corporation formed for the purpose of
74	74	making a profit in which 51 percent or more of all classes of the
75	75	shares of stock or other equitable securities are owned by one or
76	76	more economically disadvantaged persons who have a proportionate
77	77	interest and actively participate in the corporation's control,
78	78	operation, and management;
79	79	(B) a sole proprietorship created for the purpose
80	80	of making a profit that is completely owned, operated, and
81	81	controlled by an economically disadvantaged person;
82	82	(C) a partnership formed for the purpose of
83	83	making a profit in which 51 percent or more of the assets and
84	84	interest in the partnership are owned by one or more economically
85	85	disadvantaged persons who have a proportionate interest and
86	86	actively participate in the partnership's control, operation, and
87	87	management;
88	88	(D) a joint venture in which each entity in the
89	89	venture is a historically underutilized business, as determined
90	90	under another paragraph of this subdivision; [or]
91	91	(E) a supplier contract between a historically
92	92	underutilized business as determined under another paragraph of
93	93	this subdivision and a prime contractor under which the
94	94	historically underutilized business is directly involved in the
95	95	manufacture or distribution of the goods or otherwise warehouses
96	96	and ships the goods; or
97	97	(F) an employee-owned company in which 51 percent
98	98	or more of the ownership interests in the company, including
99	99	interests determined under Section 2161.0013, are held by
100	100	economically disadvantaged persons who have a proportionate
101	101	interest and actively participate in the company's control,
102	102	operation, and management, including as voting trustees of an
103	103	employee stock ownership plan of the company.
104	104	(3-a) "Employee-owned company" has the meaning
105	105	assigned by Section 2155.454.
106	106	(3-b) "Employee stock ownership plan" has the meaning
107	107	assigned by Section 4975(e), Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
108	108	SECTION 6. Subchapter A, Chapter 2161, Government Code, is
109	109	amended by adding Section 2161.0013 to read as follows:
110	110	Sec. 2161.0013. DETERMINING OWNERSHIP INTEREST IN
111	111	EMPLOYEE-OWNED COMPANY. For purposes of determining the ownership
112	112	interests in an employee-owned company, the allocated shares of
113	113	stock in the account of a plan participant of an employee stock
114	114	ownership plan of the company are considered to be owned by the plan
115	115	participant.
116	116	SECTION 7. Subchapter B, Chapter 2161, Government Code, is
117	117	amended by adding Section 2161.0611 to read as follows:
118	118	Sec. 2161.0611. RETENTION OF STATUS AS HISTORICALLY
119	119	UNDERUTILIZED BUSINESS. If a business described by Section
120	120	2161.001(2)(A), (B), (C), or (D) is certified as a historically
121	121	underutilized business and the business establishes an employee
122	122	stock ownership plan that causes the business to lose status as a
123	123	historically underutilized business or eligibility for
124	124	recertification as a historically underutilized business, the
125	125	business retains that status or eligibility for a period of not more
126	126	than five years after the date the business establishes the plan.
127	127	SECTION 8. Section 2161.125, Government Code, is amended to
128	128	read as follows:
129	129	Sec. 2161.125. CATEGORIZATION OF HISTORICALLY
130	130	UNDERUTILIZED BUSINESSES. The comptroller, in cooperation with
131	131	each state agency reporting under this subchapter, shall categorize
132	132	each historically underutilized business included in a report under
133	133	this subchapter by:
134	134	(1) sex, race, and ethnicity; and
135	135	(2) [by] whether the business qualifies as a
136	136	historically underutilized business:
137	137	(A) because it is owned or owned, operated, and
138	138	controlled, as applicable, wholly or partly by one or more veterans
139	139	as defined by 38 U.S.C. Section 101(2) who have suffered at least a
140	140	20 percent service-connected disability as defined by 38 U.S.C.
141	141	Section 101(16); or
142	142	(B) under Section 2161.001(2)(F).
143	143	SECTION 9. Subchapter Z, Chapter 271, Local Government
144	144	Code, is amended by adding Section 271.909 to read as follows:
145	145	Sec. 271.909. PREFERENCE TO TEXAS EMPLOYEE-OWNED
146	146	COMPANIES. (a) In this section:
147	147	(1) "Employee-owned company" has the meaning assigned
148	148	by Section 2155.454, Government Code.
149	149	(2) "Local government" means a municipality, a county,
150	150	or a special district.
151	151	(b) In purchasing goods or services, a local government may
152	152	give preference to an employee-owned company domiciled in this
153	153	state if other considerations are equal.
154	154	SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.