H.B. No. 1470

	AN ACT
	relating to the Texas Economic Development Act, including the
	continuation of that Act and tax credits claimed under that Act, and
	to the duties of the comptroller of public accounts and the Texas
	Education Agency under that Act.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 313.007, Tax Code, is amended to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 313.007.  EXPIRATION. Subchapters B, C, and D expire
	December 31, 2011 [2007].
	SECTION 2. Section 313.025, Tax Code, is amended by amending
	Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
	follows:
	(b)  The governing body of a school district is not required
	to consider an application for a limitation on appraised value that
	is filed with the governing body under Subsection (a). If the
	governing body of the school district does elect to consider an
	application, the governing body shall deliver three copies of the
	application to the comptroller and request that the comptroller
	provide [engage a third person to conduct] an economic impact
	evaluation of the application to [on behalf of] the school
	district.  Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), the comptroller
	shall conduct or contract with a third person to conduct the
	evaluation, which shall be completed and provided to the governing
	body of the school district as soon as practicable. The governing
	body shall provide to the comptroller or third person any requested
	information. A methodology to allow comparisons of economic impact
	for different schedules of the addition of qualified investment or
	qualified property may be developed as part of the economic impact
	evaluation. The governing body shall provide a copy of the
	evaluation to the applicant on request. The comptroller may charge
	and collect a fee sufficient to cover the costs of providing the
	economic impact evaluation. The governing body of a school
	district shall [and] approve or disapprove an application before
	the 121st day after the date the application is filed, unless the
	economic impact evaluation has not been received or an extension is
	agreed to by the governing body and the applicant.
	(b-1)  The comptroller shall indicate on one copy of the
	application the date the comptroller received the application and
	deliver that copy to the Texas Education Agency. The Texas
	Education Agency shall determine the effect that the applicant's
	proposal will have on the number or size of the school district's
	instructional facilities, as required to be included in the
	economic impact evaluation by Section 313.026(a)(9), and submit a
	written report containing the agency's determination to the
	comptroller. The governing body of the school district shall
	provide any requested information to the Texas Education Agency.
	Not later than the 45th day after the date the application indicates
	that the comptroller received the application, the Texas Education
	Agency shall make the required determination and submit the
	agency's written report to the comptroller.  A third person
	contracted by the comptroller to conduct an economic impact
	evaluation of an application is not required to make a
	determination that the Texas Education Agency is required to make
	and report to the comptroller under this subsection.
	(d)  [On receipt of an application under this section that
	the governing body elects to consider, the school district shall
	deliver one copy of the application to the comptroller.] Before the
	61st day after the date the comptroller receives the copy of the
	application [is received], the comptroller[, using the criteria
	listed in Section 313.026,] shall submit a recommendation to the
	governing body of the school district as to whether the application
	should be approved or disapproved.
	SECTION 3.  Section 313.025, Tax Code, is amended by adding
	Subsection (f-1) to read as follows:
	(f-1)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter
	to the contrary, including Section 313.003(2) or 313.004(3)(A) or
	(B)(iii), the governing body of a school district may waive the new
	jobs creation requirement in Section 313.021(2)(A)(iv)(b) or
	313.051(b) and approve an application if the governing body makes a
	finding that the jobs creation requirement exceeds the industry
	standard for the number of employees reasonably necessary for the
	operation of the facility of the property owner that is described in
	the application.
	SECTION 4.  Section 313.026, Tax Code, is amended to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 313.026.  ECONOMIC IMPACT EVALUATION. (a) The
	economic impact evaluation of the application must include the
	following:
	(1)  the recommendations of the comptroller;
	(2)  the relationship between the applicant's industry
	and the types of qualifying jobs to be created by the applicant to
	the long-term economic growth plans of this state as described in
	the strategic plan for economic development submitted by the Texas
	Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission under Section
	481.033, Government Code, as that section existed before February
	1, 1999;
	(3)  the relative level of the applicant's investment
	per qualifying job to be created by the applicant;
	(4)  the wages, salaries, and benefits to be offered by
	the applicant to qualifying job holders;
	(5)  the ability of the applicant to locate or relocate
	in another state or another region of this state;
	(6)  the impact the added infrastructure will have on
	the region, including:
	(A)  revenue gains that would be realized by the
	school district; and
	(B)  subsequent economic effects on the local and
	regional tax bases;
	(7)  the economic condition of the region of the state
	at the time the person's application is being considered;
	(8)  the number of new facilities built or expanded in
	the region during the two years preceding the date of the
	application that were eligible to apply for a limitation on
	appraised value under this subchapter; and
	(9)  the effect of the applicant's proposal, if
	approved, on the number or size of the school district's
	instructional facilities, as defined by Section 46.001, Education
	Code.
	(b)  The comptroller's recommendations shall be based on the
	criteria listed in Subsections (a)(2)-(9) and on any other
	information available to the comptroller, including information
	provided by the governing body of the school district under Section
	313.025(b).
	(c)  Subsection (b) does not apply to the comptroller's
	recommendations made before December 31, 2007.  This subsection
	expires December 31, 2008.
	SECTION 5.  Section 313.104, Tax Code, is amended to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 313.104.  ACTION ON APPLICATION; GRANT OF CREDIT.
	Before the 90th day after the date the application for a tax credit
	is filed, the governing body of the school district shall:
	(1)  determine the person's eligibility for a tax
	credit under this subchapter; and
	(2)  if the person's application is approved, by order
	or resolution direct the collector of taxes for the school
	district:
	(A)  in the second and subsequent six tax years
	that begin after the date the application is approved, to credit
	against the taxes imposed on the qualified property by the district
	in that year an amount equal to one-seventh of the total amount of
	tax credit to which the person is entitled under Section 313.102,
	except that the amount of a credit granted in any of those tax years
	may not exceed 50 percent of the total amount of ad valorem school
	taxes imposed on the qualified property by the school district in
	that tax year; and
	(B)  in the first three tax years [year] that
	begin [begins] on or after the date the person's eligibility for the
	limitation under Subchapter B or C expires, to credit against the
	taxes imposed on the qualified property by the district an amount
	equal to the portion of the total amount of tax credit to which the
	person is entitled under Section 313.102 that was not credited
	against the person's taxes under Paragraph (A) in a tax year covered
	by Paragraph (A), except that the amount of a tax credit granted
	under this paragraph in any tax year may not exceed the total amount
	of ad valorem school taxes imposed on the qualified property by the
	school district in that tax year.
	SECTION 6.  Sections 16(a) and (d), Chapter 1, Acts of the
	79th Legislature, 3rd Called Session, 2006, are repealed.
	SECTION 7.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
	section, Sections 313.025 and 313.026, Tax Code, as amended by this
	Act, apply only to an application for a limitation on appraised
	value under Chapter 313 of that code in connection with which the
	governing body of a school district, before December 31, 2007, has
	not engaged a third person to conduct an economic impact
	evaluation. An application for a limitation on appraised value in
	connection with which the governing body of a school district,
	before December 31, 2007, has engaged a third person to conduct an
	economic impact evaluation is governed by the law in effect
	immediately before December 31, 2007, and the former law is
	continued in effect for that purpose.
	(b)  Subsection (a) of this section does not apply to Section
	313.025(f-1), Tax Code, as added by this Act.
	(c)  The changes in law made by this Act to Section 313.104,
	Tax Code, apply only to an application for a school tax credit under
	Subchapter D, Chapter 313, Tax Code, that is filed on or after the
	effective date provided by Section 8(a) of this Act. An application
	for a school tax credit under Subchapter D, Chapter 313, Tax Code,
	that was filed before that date is governed by the law in effect
	when the application was filed, and the former law is continued in
	effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 8.  (a)  Except as otherwise provided by Subsection
	(b) of this section, this Act takes effect immediately if it
	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
	effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
	(b)  Section 2 of this Act takes effect December 31, 2007.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 1470 was passed by the House on April
	26, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 138, Nays 3, 2 present, not
	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
	No. 1470 on May 24, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 141, Nays 0,
	2 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 1470 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 22, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays
	0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor