H.B. No. 2358

	AN ACT
	relating to the exemption from certain registration and licensing
	requirements and taxes for certain businesses and employees who
	enter this state in response to a disaster or emergency.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subtitle C, Title 5, Business & Commerce Code, is
	amended by adding Chapter 112 to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 112. FACILITATING BUSINESS RAPID RESPONSE TO STATE
	DECLARED DISASTERS ACT
	Sec. 112.001.  SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the
	Facilitating Business Rapid Response to State Declared Disasters
	Act.
	Sec. 112.002.  LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds
	that:
	(1)  during times of storm, flood, fire, earthquake,
	hurricane, or other disaster or emergency, many Texas businesses
	bring in resources and personnel from other states on a temporary
	basis to expedite the often enormous and overwhelming tasks of
	cleaning up, restoring, and repairing damaged buildings,
	equipment, and property, and deploying and building new replacement
	facilities in the state;
	(2)  accomplishing those tasks may necessitate
	out-of-state businesses, including out-of-state affiliates of
	Texas businesses, bringing into Texas resources, property, and
	personnel that previously had no connection to Texas to perform
	business activities in Texas, including repairing, renovating,
	installing, and building, for extended periods of time;
	(3)  during those periods of time, out-of-state
	businesses and employees performing business activities in Texas on
	a temporary basis solely for the purpose of helping the state
	recover from a disaster or emergency should not be burdened by any
	requirements that the out-of-state businesses or employees pay
	taxes as a result of performing those activities; and
	(4)  to ensure that out-of-state businesses may focus
	on quickly responding to the needs of Texas and its citizens during
	a disaster or emergency, it is appropriate for the legislature to
	provide that those businesses and their employees are not subject
	to certain state and local registration and licensing requirements
	and taxes for performing business activities before, during, and
	after the disaster or emergency to repair and restore devastating
	damage to critical property and infrastructure in the state.
	Sec. 112.003.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
	(1)  "Affiliate" means a member of a combined group as
	that term is described by Section 171.1014, Tax Code.
	(2)  "Critical infrastructure" means equipment and
	property that is owned or used by a telecommunications provider or
	cable operator or for communications networks, electric
	generation, electric transmission and distribution systems,
	natural gas and natural gas liquids gathering, processing, and
	storage, transmission and distribution systems, and water
	pipelines and related support facilities, equipment, and property
	that serve multiple persons, including buildings, offices,
	structures, lines, poles, and pipes.
	(3)  "Declared state disaster or emergency" means a
	disaster or emergency event that occurs in this state and:
	(A)  in response to which the governor issues an
	executive order or proclamation declaring a state of disaster or a
	state of emergency; or
	(B)  that the president of the United States
	declares a major disaster or emergency.
	(4)  "Disaster- or emergency-related work" means
	repairing, renovating, installing, building, rendering services,
	or performing other business activities relating to the repair or
	replacement of critical infrastructure that has been damaged,
	impaired, or destroyed by a declared state disaster or emergency.
	(5)  "Disaster response period" means:
	(A)  the period that:
	(i)  begins on the 10th day before the date
	of the earliest event establishing a declared state disaster or
	emergency by the issuance of an executive order or proclamation by
	the governor or a declaration of the president of the United States;
	and
	(ii)  ends on the earlier of the 120th day
	after the start date or the 60th day after the ending date of the
	disaster or emergency period established by the executive order or
	proclamation or declaration, or on a later date as determined by an
	executive order or proclamation by the governor; or
	(B)  the period that, with respect to an
	out-of-state business entity described by this paragraph:
	(i)  begins on the date that the
	out-of-state business entity enters this state in good faith under
	a mutual assistance agreement and in anticipation of a state
	disaster or emergency, regardless of whether a state disaster or
	emergency is actually declared; and
	(ii)  ends on the earlier of the date that
	the work is concluded or the seventh day after the out-of-state
	business entity enters this state.
	(6)  "In-state business entity" means a domestic entity
	or foreign entity that is authorized to transact business in this
	state immediately before a disaster response period.
	(7)  "Mutual assistance agreement" means an agreement
	to which one or more business entities are parties and under which a
	public utility, municipally owned utility, or joint agency owning,
	operating, or owning and operating critical infrastructure used for
	electric generation, transmission, or distribution in this state
	may request that an out-of-state business entity perform work in
	this state in anticipation of a state disaster or emergency.
	(8)  "Out-of-state business entity" means a foreign
	entity that enters this state at the request of an in-state business
	entity under a mutual assistance agreement or is an affiliate of an
	in-state business entity and:
	(A)  that:
	(i)  except with respect to the performance
	of disaster- or emergency-related work:
	(a)  has no physical presence in this
	state and is not authorized to transact business in this state
	immediately before a disaster response period; and
	(b)  is not registered with the
	secretary of state to transact business in this state, does not file
	a tax report with this state or a political subdivision of this
	state, and does not have a nexus with this state for the purpose of
	taxation during the tax year immediately preceding the disaster
	response period; and
	(ii)  enters this state at the request of an
	in-state business entity, the state, or a political subdivision of
	this state to perform disaster- or emergency-related work in this
	state during the disaster response period; or
	(B)  that performs work in this state under a
	mutual assistance agreement.
	(9)  "Out-of-state employee" means an employee who
	enters this state to perform disaster- or emergency-related work
	during a disaster response period. The term does not include a
	security guard or other employee whose primary function is to
	provide security services or an employee whose primary function is
	to install or repair heating or cooling equipment.
	Sec. 112.004.  EXEMPTION OF OUT-OF-STATE BUSINESS ENTITY
	FROM CERTAIN OBLIGATIONS DURING DISASTER RESPONSE PERIOD.
	Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by Section
	112.006, an out-of-state business entity whose transaction of
	business in this state is limited to the performance of disaster- or
	emergency-related work during a disaster response period is not
	required to:
	(1)  register with the secretary of state;
	(2)  file a tax report with or pay taxes or fees to this
	state or a political subdivision of this state;
	(3)  pay an ad valorem tax or use tax on equipment that
	is brought into the state by the entity, used only by the entity to
	perform disaster- or emergency-related work during the disaster
	response period, and removed from the state by the entity following
	the disaster response period;
	(4)  comply with state or local business licensing or
	registration requirements; or
	(5)  comply with state or local occupational licensing
	requirements or related fees.
	Sec. 112.005.  EXEMPTION OF OUT-OF-STATE EMPLOYEE FROM
	CERTAIN OBLIGATIONS DURING DISASTER RESPONSE PERIOD.
	Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by Section
	112.006, an out-of-state employee whose only employment in this
	state is for the performance of disaster- or emergency-related work
	during a disaster response period is not required to:
	(1)  file a tax report with or pay taxes or fees to this
	state or a political subdivision of this state; or
	(2)  comply with state or local occupational licensing
	requirements or related fees, if the employee is in substantial
	compliance with applicable occupational licensing requirements in
	the employee's state of residence or principal employment.
	Sec. 112.006.  TRANSACTION TAXES AND FEES. An out-of-state
	business entity whose transaction of business in this state is
	limited to the performance of disaster- or emergency-related work
	during a disaster response period or an out-of-state employee whose
	only employment in this state is for the performance of disaster- or
	emergency-related work during a disaster response period is subject
	to a transaction tax or fee, including a motor fuels tax, sales or
	use tax, hotel occupancy tax, and the tax imposed on the rental of a
	motor vehicle, that is imposed in this state, unless the entity or
	employee is otherwise exempt from the tax or fee.
	Sec. 112.007.  NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES. (a) If requested
	by the secretary of state, an out-of-state business entity shall
	provide to the secretary of state a statement that the entity came
	to this state for the purpose of performing disaster- or
	emergency-related work during a disaster response period and that
	includes:
	(1)  the entity's name;
	(2)  the entity's jurisdiction of formation;
	(3)  the address of the principal office of the entity;
	(4)  the entity's federal tax identification number;
	(5)  the date that the entity entered the state; and
	(6)  contact information for the entity.
	(b)  If requested by the secretary of state, an in-state
	business entity shall provide to the secretary of state, along with
	the in-state business entity's contact information, the
	information listed in Subsection (a) for any affiliate of the
	in-state business entity that entered the state as an out-of-state
	business entity.
	(c)  The secretary of state shall keep records of and make
	available to the public any statements or information provided to
	the secretary of state under this section.
	Sec. 112.008.  OBLIGATIONS OF OUT-OF-STATE BUSINESS
	ENTITIES AND EMPLOYEES AFTER DISASTER RESPONSE PERIOD. An
	out-of-state business entity or out-of-state employee who remains
	in this state after a disaster response period is not entitled to
	any exemptions from obligations provided by this chapter.
	Sec. 112.009.  REGULATIONS. The secretary of state shall
	adopt regulations, including developing any necessary forms or
	processes, to implement this chapter.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  Subchapter B, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is
	amended by adding Section 151.0241 to read as follows:
	Sec. 151.0241.  PERSONS PERFORMING DISASTER- OR
	EMERGENCY-RELATED WORK.  (a)  In this section, "disaster- or
	emergency-related work," "disaster response period," and
	"out-of-state business entity" have the meanings assigned by
	Section 112.003, Business & Commerce Code.
	(b)  An out-of-state business entity is not engaged in
	business in this state for purposes of Sections 151.107 and 151.403
	or any other provision of this chapter applicable to a person
	engaged in business in this state if the entity's physical presence
	in this state is solely from the entity's performance of disaster-
	or emergency-related work during a disaster response period.
	(b)  Section 151.0241, Tax Code, as added by this section,
	does not affect tax liability accruing before the effective date of
	this Act. That liability continues in effect as if this Act had not
	been enacted, and the former law is continued in effect for the
	collection of taxes due and for civil and criminal enforcement of
	the liability for those taxes.
	SECTION 3.  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, 2015.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2358 was passed by the House on May 4,
	2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 141, Nays 0, 1 present, not
	voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2358 was passed by the Senate on May
	22, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED:  _____________________
	Date
	_____________________
	Governor