COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 3188
(By Delegate Marshall)
(Originating in the House Committee on Judiciary)
[February 20, 2008]
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, §5B-4-5 and §5B-4-6, all relating to creating
measures to analyze effectiveness of economic development
incentives; requiring reporting; and requiring the department
of commerce to promulgate legislative rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article
designated §5B-4-1, §5B-4-2, §5B-4-3, §5B-4-4, §5B-4-5 and §5B-4-6,
be amended 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) "Assistance" means 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 under the department of commerce
or the department of revenue.
(b) "Person" includes, but is not limited to, any individual,
firm, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company,
joint venture, association or corporation.
(c) "Secretary" means secretary of the department of commerce.
§5B-4-3. Documentation.
(a) Each state and local agency, department or political
subdivision which renders assistance authorized by certain economic
development programs or policies as identified in subsection(c),
section five of this article shall document and report to the
Secretary all information regarding wages and benefits paid by
persons receiving assistance and any other relevant information
requested by the secretary.
(b) Beginning on the first day of July, two thousand eight,
every person seeking assistance must at the time of application
complete a form prescribed by the secretary stating the number and
type of jobs to be created or preserved and the anticipated or
current wages and benefits that are to be or are currently being
paid for those jobs.
(c) At a time to be determined by the secretary pursuant to
rules promulgated under this article, every person receiving
assistance shall complete a verification form containing all
relevant information regarding actual jobs created or preserved and
wages and benefits associated with those jobs.
§5B-4-4. Duties of the Secretary.
(a) The secretary 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) The secretary shall compare the information collected
pursuant to this article relating to assistance authorized by
certain economic development programs or policies as identified in
subsection (c), section five of this article to the most recent
self-sufficiency standards for West Virginia as published by
Workforce West Virginia.
(c) The Secretary shall also collect data and provide a
comparison with the affected county or municipality, any
identifiable alteration in employment, lost wages and tax
collection data by similar job classification and similar type of
business in that county that may have been adversely impacted by
the receipt of assistance.
§5B-4-5. Determination of economic development programs.
(a) On or before the first day of August, two thousand eight,
the secretary shall submit to the Joint Commission on Economic
Development: (1) a list of all economic development programs or
policies administered by any of the agencies under the department
of commerce which provide assistance; and (2) from that list, a
list of those programs or policies the inclusion of which the
secretary determines would best serve the purposes of this article.
(b) On or before the first day of September, two thousand
eight, the secretary, in conjunction with the tax commissioner and
the secretary of revenue, shall submit to the Joint Commission on
Economic Development: (1) a list of all the economic development
programs or policies administered by any of the agencies under the
department of revenue which provide assistance; and (2) from that
list, a list of those programs or policies the inclusion of which
the secretary determines would best serve the purposes of this
article.
(c) Those programs identified by the secretary the inclusion
of which the secretary determines would best serve the purposes of
this article in subsections (a) and (b) of this section are subject
to the documentation requirements of subsection (a) of section
three, subsection (b) of section four and section six of this
article.
§5B-4-6. Reporting.
(a) On the first day of August, two thousand ten, and every
year thereafter, the secretary shall submit a report to the Joint
Commission on Economic Development documenting the amount and type
of assistance granted for the preceding fiscal year by the economic
development programs or policies identified in subsection (c),
section five of this article, the estimated jobs to be created or
preserved and wages and benefits to be paid.
(b) On the first day of December, two thousand ten, and every
year thereafter, the secretary shall submit a report to the Joint
Committee on Government and Finance and the Joint Commission on
Economic Development on assistance granted in the preceding fiscal
year by the economic development programs or policies identified in
subsection (c), section five of this article, including analysis of
the actual jobs created, actual jobs preserved, the actual wages
and benefits paid, and how that data compares to the self-
sufficiency wage.
(c) For purposes of comparison, the self-sufficiency wage to
be used shall be the wage reported in the self-sufficiency standard
study published by Workforce West Virginia for a single parent with
two children, one pre-school and one in grade school.