HB 3188 Text

H. B. 3188

(By Delegate Marshall)
[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the

Committee on Industry and Labor, Economic Development and Small Business.]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §5B-4-1, §5B-4-2, §5B-4-3, §5B-4-4 and §5B-4-5, all relating to creating measures to analyze effectiveness of economic development initiatives, vesting authority with the secretary of commerce, legislative rule making, comparing job and wage information to self-sufficiency wage and reporting to the Legislature.

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-4-1, §5B-4-2, §5B-4-3, §5B-4-4 and §5B-4-5, all to read as follows:

ARTICLE 4. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNTABILITY ACT.
§5B-4-1. Purpose.
The purpose of this article is to provide reliable and accurate economic measures with which policy makers can gauge the effectiveness of various economic development initiatives.
§5B-4-2. Definitions.
(a) "Secretary" means secretary of the department of commerce.
(b) "Assistance" any type of financial assistance received by an employer or entity for economic development purposes, including but not limited to, loans, grants, tax credits or tax abatements, from any agency, department or political subdivision of the state.
§5B-4-3. Documentation.
(a) Each state and local agency, department or political subdivision which renders economic development assistance in the form of loans, grants, tax credits, tax abatements or any other type of financial assistance, shall document and record all information regarding wages and benefits paid by employers or entities receiving such assistance and any other relevant information requested by the secretary.
(b) Every employer or entity seeking assistance must at the time of application complete a form prescribed by the secretary regarding jobs created, to be created or preserved, as well as, employee wages and benefits.
(c) At a time to be determined by the secretary pursuant to rules promulgated under this article, every employer or entity receiving funds pursuant to an economic development, grant, loan, tax abatement, tax credit, or similar assistance, shall complete a verification form containing all relevant information regarding actual jobs created and wages and benefits associated with those jobs.
§5B-4-4. Forms; rules.
(a) The secretary of commerce shall develop rules for the application form and the verification form as required by this article and may adopt other rules necessary for the administration of this article. All rules shall be proposed for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
(b) Information gathered pursuant to this article shall be compared to the most recent self-sufficiency standards for West Virginia as published by the Bureau of Employment Programs.
§5B-4-5. Reporting.
(a) On the first day of January, two thousand eight, the secretary, after verified consultation with the Tax Commissioner, shall submit a report to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance, the Senate Economic Development Committee and the House Industry and Labor, Economic Development and Small Business Committee. The report will document the amount and type of economic development assistance or tax credit or tax abatement received, the estimated jobs to be created or preserved, wages and benefits to be paid.
(b) On the first day of January, two thousand eleven, the secretary, after verified consultation with the Tax Commissioner, shall submit a report to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance, the Senate Economic Development Committee and the House Industry and Labor, Economic Development and Small Business Committee with an analysis of the actual jobs created, actual jobs preserved, the actual wages and benefits paid, and an analysis of how the data compares to the self-sufficiency wage.
(c) For purposes of comparison, the self-sufficiency wage to be used shall be the wage for a single parent with two children, one pre-school and one in grade school.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a means by which effectiveness of economic development incentives can be measured, vesting authority with the secretary of commerce to analyze job creation data compared with the self-sufficiency wage and report findings to the Legislature.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

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