H. B. 2290
(By Delegates Walters, Poling,
Boggs, Ashley and Paxton)
[Introduced January 15, 2003; referred to the
Committee on Industry and Labor, Economic Development and
Small Business then Finance.]
A BILL to amend article one, chapter eleven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated section one-b,
relating to the economic fairness act of two thousand three;
and requiring the tax commissioner to refund to the five
counties with the highest unemployment twenty percent of the
personal income tax collected.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new section, designated section one-b, to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 1. SUPERVISION.
§11-1-1b. The economic fairness act of 2003.
(a) It shall be the duty of the tax commissioner to designate the five counties that had the highest average unemployment during
the previous three years and refund to those counties twenty
percent of their personal income tax collections from the previous
year: Provided, That the maximum refund to one county shall not
exceed five hundred thousand dollars.
(b) The refunds provided for in subsection (a) of this section
shall be paid to the general fund of the counties with the specific
designation that the refunds be used for projects defined in
section four, article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of this code.
(c) Each of the counties so designated shall submit to the
West Virginia economic development authority an economic
development plan which must first be approved by the authority
before the refunds are released to the counties.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the economic
fairness act and encourage economic development in counties with
high unemployment.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.