Bill Text: TX HB1137 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to restrictions on tax and fee benefits for certain private entities that outsource jobs to foreign countries.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-27 - Referred to Ways & Means [HB1137 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB1137-Introduced.html

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85R1562 AAF-F
By: Davis of Dallas H.B. No. 1137

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to restrictions on tax and fee benefits for certain
private entities that outsource jobs to foreign countries.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle F, Title 10, Government Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 2270 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 2270. RESTRICTIONS ON TAX AND FEE BENEFITS TO ENTITIES THAT
OUTSOURCE JOBS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Sec. 2270.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Domestic" means created or organized in the
United States or under the laws of the United States or any state.
(2) "State agency" means a department, board,
commission, or other agency in the executive branch of state
government. The term does not include an institution of higher
education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code.
Sec. 2270.002. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter does
not apply to a credit, exemption, or discount for which the Texas
Constitution specifically prescribes the eligibility requirements.
Sec. 2270.003. INELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN ENTITIES FOR TAX
AND FEE BENEFITS. Notwithstanding other law, a domestic private
entity is not eligible for a credit, exemption, or discount in
relation to a tax or fee imposed by this state if the entity, at any
time during the previous two years, created employment suitable for
performance in the United States in a country other than the United
States and, as a result, eliminated or failed to create similar
employment in the United States.
Sec. 2270.004. DENIAL OF BENEFITS. (a) A state agency
responsible for the issuance of a credit, exemption, or discount in
relation to a tax or fee imposed by this state shall adopt rules
relating to the manner in which:
(1) the agency will determine whether to deny the
benefit under Section 2270.003 or 2270.005; and
(2) a person may ask the agency to reconsider the
denial.
(b) The rules adopted by a state agency shall require that
as soon as practicable after making the decision to deny a credit,
exemption, or discount to a domestic private entity that is
ineligible for the benefit under Section 2270.003 or 2270.005 but
is otherwise eligible for the benefit, the state agency shall
provide the domestic private entity with notice of and the factual
basis for the denial and a description of the procedures available
to request a reconsideration and to contest the factual or legal
basis for the denial.
Sec. 2270.005. REPORTING. (a) In addition to the standard
imposed by Section 2270.003, a domestic private entity that applies
for a credit, exemption, or discount in relation to a tax or fee
imposed by this state is not eligible for the credit, exemption, or
discount unless, during the six-month period before applying for
the credit, exemption, or discount, the entity reports to the Texas
Workforce Commission on the number of jobs the entity created in
this state and the number of jobs suitable for performance in the
United States that the entity created in a country other than the
United States during the 12-month period before the date of the
report.
(b) Not later than December 31 of each year, the Texas
Workforce Commission shall, based on information obtained from the
reports under Subsection (a), report to the governor, the
lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
representatives the domestic private entities that are not eligible
for a credit, exemption, or discount under Section 2270.003.
SECTION 2. Chapter 2270, Government Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to a credit, exemption, or discount provided or
denied on or after September 1, 2018, in relation to a tax or fee
imposed by this state.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.