Introduced Version
House Bill 2578 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2578
(By Delegates Morgan, Stephens, Staggers,
Eldridge, Hartman, Jones, Paxton, Lynch,
Fleischauer, Folk and Arvon)
[Introduced February 20, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization then Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §5B-2I-1, §5B-2I-2,
§5B-2I-3, §5B-2I-4 and §5B-2I-5, all relating to creating the
Good Jobs Internet Reporting Act; requiring government
agencies to report job creation and retention information
related to development assistance programs to the Department
of Revenue; requiring tracking numbers for all development
assistance projects and tax credits; requiring the Tax
Department to report development assistance tax credit
information to the Department of Revenue; requiring tax
levying bodies to report tax assessment valuation
determination information to the Department of Revenue;
requiring the Department of Revenue to compile and report all
information required under this article to the Legislature;
and requiring the Department of Revenue to publish reports on
the internet.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §5B-2I-1, §5B-2I-2,
§5B-2I-3, §5B-2I-4 and §5B-2I-5, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2I. THE GOOD JOBS INTERNET REPORTING ACT.
§5B-2I-1. Short title.
_____This article may be cited as the "Good Jobs Internet Reporting
Act."
§5B-2I-2. Definitions.
_____(1) "Department" means, unless otherwise noted, the Department
of Revenue or any successor agency.
_____(2) "Development assistance" means any tax credit administered
by the Tax Department that has a job creation or retention
qualification or job reporting requirement, or any direct economic
development loan or grant administered by the West Virginia
Economic Development Authority, the Development Office or the West
Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council.
_____(3) "Full-time, permanent job" means the same as that term is
defined in the statute authorizing the development assistance or in
the legislative rule promulgated pursuant to the statute. On and
after the effective date of this article, if there is no definition
in the statute or legislative rule, then "full-time, permanent job"
means a job in which the new employee works for the recipient at a rate of at least thirty-five hours per week.
_____(4) "Granting body" means any agency, board, office, public
benefit corporation or authority of West Virginia that provides or
administers development assistance, and any successor agency.
_____(5) "New employee" means the same as that term is defined in
the statute authorizing the development assistance or in the
legislative rule promulgated pursuant to the statute. On and after
the effective date of this article, if there is no definition in
the statute or legislative rule, then "new employee" means a full-
time, permanent employee who represents a net increase in the
number of the recipient's employees statewide. "New employee"
includes an employee who previously filled a new employee position
with the recipient who was rehired or called back from a layoff.
The term "new employee" does not include any of the following:
_____(A) An employee of the recipient who performs a job that was
previously performed by another employee in this state, if that job
existed in this state for at least six months before hiring the
employee; or
_____(B) A child, grandchild, parent, or spouse, other than a
spouse who is legally separated from the individual, of any
individual who has a direct or indirect ownership interest of at
least five percent in the profits, capital, or value of any family
member of the recipient.
_____(6) "Part-time job" means the same as that term is defined in the statute authorizing the development assistance or in the
legislative rule promulgated pursuant to the statute. On and after
the effective date of this article, if there is no definition in
the statute or legislative rule, then "part-time job" means a job
in which the new employee works for the recipient at a rate of less
than thirty-five hours per week.
_____(7) "Recipient" means any business that receives economic
development assistance. A business is any corporate shareholders,
limited liability company, partners, joint venture, association,
sole proprietorship, or other legally recognized entity.
_____(8) "Retained employee" means the same as that term is defined
in the statute authorizing the development assistance or in the
legislative rule promulgated pursuant to the statute. On and after
the effective date of this article, if there is no definition in
the statute or legislative rule, then "retained employee" means any
employee defined as having a full-time or full-time equivalent job
preserved at a specific facility or site, the continuance of which
is threatened by a specific and demonstrable threat.
_____(9) "Specific project site" means that distinct operational
geographic location to which any development assistance is applied.
_____(10) "Tax department" means, for the purposes of this article,
the West Virginia State Tax Department in its role as the
administrator of development assistance tax credits.
_____(11) "Tax assessment valuation determination" means a determination of the value of real or personal property for tax
assessment purposes, for an amount that is less than the fair
market value, made by an authorized tax levying body for purpose of
providing development assistance, including those determinations
made pursuant to the provisions of chapter seven, article eleven-b
or chapter eleven, article six-e of this code.
_____(12) "Temporary job" means the same as that term is defined in
the statute authorizing the development assistance or in the
legislative rule promulgated pursuant to the statute. On and after
the effective date of this article, if there is no definition in
the statute or legislative rule, then "temporary job" means a job
in which the new employee is hired for a specific duration of time
or season.
_____(13) "Value of assistance" means the aggregate monetary amount
of any form of development assistance.
§5B-2I-3. Tracking numbers.
_____(a) On and after the effective date of this article, the
department shall issue a tracking number for each application for
development assistance submitted to a granting body, that is
specific to both the granting agency and to each application, and
for each development assistance tax credit administered by the
State Tax Department, that is specific to both the State Tax
Department and to each tax return.
_____(b) On and after the effective date of this article, each granting body shall obtain a tracking number from the department
for each application for development assistance, before the
development assistance is granted or administered.
_____(c) On and after the effective date of this article, the State
Tax Department shall obtain a tracking number from the department
for each tax return for which a development assistance tax credit
is claimed, before the tax credit is granted or administered.
§5B-2I-4. Reports to the Department of Revenue by granting bodies,
the State Tax Department and tax levying bodies.
_____(a) On and after July 1, 2014, and on the same date each year
thereafter, each granting body shall report to the department the
following information, in a form and format prescribed by the
department, for each application for development assistance that it
granted or administered during the previous fiscal year:
_____(1) An application tracking number that is specific to both
the granting agency and to each application;
_____(2) The office mailing addresses, office telephone number, and
chief officer of the granting body;
_____(3) The office mailing address, telephone number, six-digit
North American Industry Classification number or successor number,
and the name of the president or chief officer of the applicant or
authorized designee for the specific project site for which
development assistance was requested;
_____(4) The name, street and mailing address, and phone number of the chief officer of the applicant's corporate parent;
_____(5) The street address of the project site;
_____(6) The applicant's total number of employees at the specific
project site on the date that the application was submitted to the
state granting body and on the last date of the reporting period,
including the number of full-time, permanent jobs, the number of
part-time jobs, and the number of temporary jobs;
_____(7) The type of development assistance and value of assistance
requested;
_____(8) The number of jobs created or retained or both created and
retained by the applicant as a result of the development
assistance, including the number of full-time, permanent jobs, the
number of part-time jobs, and the number of temporary jobs;
_____(9) The average hourly wage paid to all current and new
employees at the project site, broken down by full-time, part-time
and temporary positions, job classification or occupation, and
further broken down by wage groups as follows: $8 or less an hour,
$8.01 to $9 an hour, $9.01 to $10 an hour, $10.01 to $11 an hour,
$11.01 to $12 an hour, $12.01 to $13 an hour, $13.01 to $14 an
hour, and $14.01 to $15 an hour, $15.01 to $16 an hour, $17.01 to
$18 an hour, $18.01 to $19 an hour, $19.01 to $20 an hour, $20.01
to $21 and hour, $21.01 to $22 and hour, $22.01 to $23 an hour,
$23.01 to $24 an hour, $24.01 to $25 and hour, $25.01 to $30 an
hour, $30.01 to $40 an hour, $40.01 to $50 an hour and $50.01 or more per hour;
_____(10) The type and amount of health care coverage provided by
the applicant to the employees, including any costs to be borne by
the employees;
_____(11) A detailed list of the occupation or job classifications
of new employees or retained employees, a schedule of starting
dates of the new hires, and total payroll created as a result of
the development assistance;
_____(12) A statement as to whether the development assistance
reduced employment at any other site controlled by the applicant or
its corporate parent, within or outside of the state, resulting
from automation, merger, acquisition, corporate restructuring or
other business activity.
_____(13) The total number of individuals employed in the state by
the applicant's corporate parent, and all its subsidiaries, as of
December 31 of the prior fiscal year, broken down by full-time,
part-time and temporary positions;
_____(14) A list of all other forms of development assistance that
the applicant has requested or received for the specific project
site and the name of each state granting body from which that
development assistance was requested or received;
_____(15) A list of all other development assistance that the
applicant has requested or received at all locations in the state
and the name of each state granting body from which that development assistance was requested or received; and
_____(16) A certification by the chief officer of the applicant, or
his or her authorized designee, that the information contained in
the application submitted to the granting body contains no known
misrepresentation of material facts upon which eligibility for
development assistance is based.
_____(b) On and after July 1, 2014, and on the same date each year
thereafter, the Tax Department shall report to the department the
following information, in a form and format prescribed by the
department, for each development assistance tax credit that it
granted or administered during the previous tax year:
_____(1) The aggregate amount of tax credit resulting from each
type of development assistance authorized in this code, broken down
by categories as distinguished by the six-digit North American
Industry Classification number; and
_____(2) The name of each corporate taxpayer which claimed any
development assistance grant under subdivision (1) of this section
of any value equal to or greater than $5,000, together with the
dollar amount received by each such corporation.
_____(c) In addition to the reporting requirements set forth in
chapter seven, article eleven-b of this code, on and after July 1,
2013, and on the same date each year thereafter, each tax levying
body shall report to the department the following information, in
a form and format prescribed by the department, for each tax assessment valuation determination of real or personal property for
an amount less than the fair market value that it made for the
purpose of development assistance during the previous tax year:
_____(1) The name of the property owner;
_____(2) The address of the property;
_____(3) The start and end dates of the tax assessment valuation
determination;
_____(4) Each tax abatement, reduction and exemption for the
property; and
_____(5) The amount of property tax not paid as a result of the
reduction or abatement.
§5B-2I-5. Reports to the Legislature; posting reports on Internet.
_____(a) On and after July 1, 2014, and on the same date each year
thereafter, the department shall annually compile and publish all
of the data contained in the reports required under section four of
this article, in both written and electronic form, and shall file
with the Legislature an annual report, in both written and
electronic form, that contains the information from each report it
received in the preceding calendar year.
_____(b) The report shall contain the specific data on each
recipient separately, the data aggregated by categories as
distinguished by the six-digit North American Industry
Classification number, and as a whole amount as a percentage of the
state budget.
_____(c) The department shall publish all reports it receives and
its annual report on a website which employs advanced search
options, including, but not limited to, the ability to search by
types of assistance programs, assistance amounts, state
departments, number of new employees hired, and geographic regions.
The website should further employ useful data analysis tools such
as charts and tables, downloadable spreadsheets, interactive
applications, and other useful tools and features to assist the
public in analyzing the data.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the Good Jobs
Internet Reporting Act. The bill requires the reporting of job
creation and retention data, tax credit data and property tax
redemptions, abatements and exemptions to the Department of
Revenue. It requires the Department of Revenue to report the data
to the Legislature and to publish the reports on the Internet.
This article is new; therefore, it has been completely
underscored.