ENROLLED
H. B. 2829

(By Delegates Browning, Petersen, Leach,
Warner, Border, Walters and Leggett)

[Passed on March 10, 1995; in effect ninety days from passage.]


AN ACT to amend chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated article thirteen-I, relating to taxation, establishing a tax credit for the employment of those persons who were staff members employed at the Colin Anderson facility and lost their job as a result of the closure of such center; providing definitions; setting effective dates; setting forth legislative purpose; setting forth the amount of the credit and the application of the credit; setting limitations; credit forfeiture; providing for distribution of notice of the availability of the credit and providing for legislative rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article thirteen I, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 13I. TAX CREDIT FOR EMPLOYING FORMER EMPLOYEES OF COLIN ANDERSON CENTER WHO LOST THEIR JOBS DUE TO THE CLOSURE OF COLIN ANDERSON CENTER.

§11-13I-1. Legislative purpose.

The Legislature finds and declares that the Colin Anderson
Center employees were good employees and performed a valuable service for the residents of the center, and the public comments regarding the closure of Colin Anderson indicated that the main objection to the closure was the care which the residents of Colin Anderson would receive elsewhere. In recognition of the expertise of these employees and their dedication to their duties and the people whom they cared for, the Legislature finds that it is in the best interests of the state to encourage the employment of those persons who are unemployed as a result of the closing of the Colin Anderson Center.
§11-13I-2. Credit allowed; amount and duration of credit; recapture of credit and effective date.
(a) There shall be allowed to eligible taxpayers a credit against the taxes imposed in articles twenty-one, twenty-three and twenty-four of this chapter. For the purpose of this article, "eligible taxpayer" means a person, firm, partnership, corporation or other entity who employs a person or persons who lost his or her job as a result of the closure of the Colin Anderson Center. Such credit shall be in an amount equal to one-half of the cost to the state of unemployment compensation which shall be determined based on the unemployment compensation cost to the state of an employee who earns twenty-one thousand dollars per year and shall be further determined as if such person was unemployed for and drew a full sixteen weeks of unemployment benefits. In the event an eligible taxpayer employs more than one such person, the credit allowed shall be multiplied by the number of persons so employed.
(b) The credit set forth in this article shall apply to personal income tax liabilities, corporation net income tax liabilities and business franchise tax liabilities arising after the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety- five. The credit established in this article shall expire and may not be claimed for those tax years ending after the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight and in order to claim this credit an eligible taxpayer shall have employed a person who lost his or her job after December 31, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five as a result of the closing of Colin Anderson Center and must be employed after said date and prior to December thirty-one, one thousand nine hundred ninety seven.
(c) As a condition of receiving the credit established in this article, the eligible taxpayer shall employ the person or persons for a period of time at least equal to one year. In the event such person is employed for less than one year the credit herein shall be recaptured at the rate of twenty percent of the dollar value of the credit for each month under twelve months the person works.
§11-13I-3. Application of credit; limitation of credit; tax commissioner to promulgate forms and legislative rule; notice of credit.
(a) The credit allowed in this article shall be first applied to a taxpayer's business franchise tax liability, and then to either the taxpayer's personal income tax liability or corporation net income tax liability, as the case may be.
(b) The credit allowed in this article shall not exceed ten thousand dollars per year and shall not be refundable, nor carried forward nor backward to other tax years.
(c) The state tax commissioner shall promulgate legislative rules pursuant to chapter twenty-nine-a of this code regarding the applicability, method of claiming of the credit, recapture of the credit and documentation necessary to claim the credit herein allowed.
(d) The state tax commissioner shall develop a written notice setting forth the availability of this credit and shall transmit this notice to the department of health and human resources to be distributed to potential employers of the Colin Anderson Center to make such employers aware of the tax credit allowed herein. The department of health and human resources shall distribute notice of the credit allowed herein as widely as possible to potential employers.