A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to create the north carolina job catalyst fund.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Part 2G of Article 10 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Subpart to read:
"Subpart B. Job Catalyst Fund.
"§ 143B‑437.67.  Job Catalyst Fund.
(a)	Creation and Purpose of Fund. – There is created in the Department of Commerce a special, nonreverting account to be known as the Job Catalyst Fund to provide funds to a local governmental unit for projects that result in the creation of jobs. The Secretary of Commerce is solely responsible for the administration of the program and shall adopt guidelines applicable to program administration. The guidelines shall include the following provisions, which shall apply to each grant from the account:
(1)	The funds are reserved for a project for which a business agrees to create and maintain, for the greater of 10 years or a time period not less than the sum of the full term of the grant plus five years, the number of new worker positions at the project as follows:
a.	For development tier one areas, 250 full‑time workers.
b.	For development tier two areas, 400 full‑time workers.
c.	For development tier three areas, 600 full‑time workers.
(2)	The funds are reserved for a project for which a business agrees to make an investment at the project as provided in this subdivision. The investment required by this subdivision must be private funds in improvements to real property and additions to tangible personal property located at the project for the greater of 10 years or a time period not less than the sum of the full term of the grant plus five years. The investment must be commenced no later than the time when the first disbursement is made to the business and must be completed no later than five years from the time the first disbursement is made to the business. Tangible personal property transferred by the business or from a related member of the business from one area in the State to the project is not considered an investment in tangible personal property located at the project for purposes of this section. The Department shall certify the amount of the investment made by the business at the project. The minimum investment at the project the business agrees to make is as follows:
a.	For development tier one areas, ten million dollars ($10,000,000).
b.	For development tier two areas, seventeen million five hundred thousand dollars ($17,500,000).
c.	For development tier three areas, twenty‑five million dollars ($25,000,000).
(3)	The funds are (i) used to acquire or improve land or infrastructure, for facility development, or for capital investment and (ii) used for manufacturing projects. For purposes of this subdivision, "manufacturing" is defined in G.S. 143B‑437.01.
(4)	The funds are provided to a local governmental unit, and the local governmental unit matches a portion of the funds allocated by the Department as provided in this subdivision. A local match may include cash, fee waivers, in‑kind services, the donation of assets, the provision of infrastructure, or a combination of these. The local match requirement is as follows:
a.	For development tier one areas, a local match of at least three dollars ($3.00) for every one hundred dollars ($100.00) from the State is required.
b.	For development tier two areas, a local match of at least six dollars ($6.00) for every one hundred dollars ($100.00) from the State is required.
c.	For development tier three areas, a local match of at least nine dollars ($9.00) for every one hundred dollars ($100.00) from the State is required.
(5)	The funds are reserved for a project for which a business agrees to meet, for the greater of 10 years or a time period not less than the sum of the full term of the grant plus five years, the wage standard provided in this subdivision for all full‑time workers at the project. In making the wage calculation, all full‑time position jobs filled during the year for at least 1,600 hours are included. The required wage standard is as follows:
a.	For development tier one and two areas, an average weekly wage that is at least equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the average wage for all insured private employers in the county.
b.	For development tier three areas, an average weekly wage that is at least equal to one hundred ten percent (110%) of the average wage for all insured private employers in the county.
(6)	The funds are reserved for projects for which a business agrees to meet, for the greater of 10 years or a time period not less than the sum of the full term of the grant plus five years, a requirement to provide health insurance for all full‑time workers at the project. For purposes of this subdivision, a business provides health insurance if it pays at least fifty percent (50%) of the premiums for health care coverage that equals or exceeds the minimum provisions of the basic health care plan of coverage recommended by the Small Employer Carrier Committee pursuant to G.S. 58‑50‑125. A business shall provide a certification that it continues to provide health insurance as required by this subdivision.
(7)	The funds are not used for a project at which is located, during the greater of 10 years or a time period not less than the sum of the full term of the grant plus five years, a business that has received a notice of an overdue tax debt and that overdue tax debt has not been satisfied or otherwise resolved.
(8)	The funds are not used in favor of jobs created or property investments made for which a business receives a tax credit under Article 3J of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes.
(9)	The funds are reserved for projects for a business that has no citations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act that have become a final order within the past three years for willful serious violations or for failing to abate serious violations. In addition, the business must, for the greater of 10 years or a time period not less than the sum of the full term of the grant plus five years, have no citations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act that have become a final order within the past three years for willful serious violations or for failing to abate serious violations with respect to the project. For purposes of this subsection, "serious violation" has the same meaning as in G.S. 95‑127.
(10)	The funds are not used for a project that consists of a professional or semiprofessional sports team or club or a project that consists solely of retail facilities. If a project consists of both retail facilities and nonretail facilities, only the portion of the project consisting of nonretail facilities is eligible for a grant, and only full‑time workers employed exclusively in the portion of the project that represents nonretail facilities may be counted for purposes of fulfilling the new worker position requirement. If a warehouse facility is part of a retail facility and supplies only that retail facility, the warehouse facility investment and full‑time workers are not counted for purposes of the requirements of this section. For the purposes of this Subpart, catalog distribution centers are not retail facilities.
(b)	Forfeiture. – If the business at the project fails to timely create and maintain the required new jobs, to timely make the required level of investment, or to otherwise meet the requirements of this section, the local governmental unit shall provide a means to recapture from the business at the project an amount equal to the amount disbursed from the Fund for the project, and the local governmental unit must reimburse the Fund for that disbursement.
(c)	Records. – A business located at a project for which a grant was made from the Fund shall maintain records and make available for inspection by the Secretary of Commerce any records the Secretary considers necessary to determine and verify the business has met the requirements of this section.
(d)	Report. – The Department shall publish a report on the Job Catalyst Fund on or before April 30 of each year. The Department shall submit the report electronically to the House of Representatives Finance Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural and Economic Resources, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Natural and Economic Resources, and the Fiscal Research Division. The report shall include the following:
(1)	A listing of each grant awarded during the preceding calendar year, including the name of the business located at the project, a description of the project, the term of the grant, and the liability under the grant.
(2)	An update on the status of projects under grants awarded before the preceding calendar year.
(3)	The number and development tier area of new worker positions to be created by projects with respect to which grants have been awarded.
(4)	A listing of the employment level for all businesses located at projects with respect to which grants have been awarded and any changes in those levels from the level of the preceding year.
(5)	The wage levels of all new worker positions to be created at projects with respect to which grants have been awarded, aggregated, and listed in increments of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or other appropriate increments.
(6)	The number of awards made for projects for new businesses and the number of awards made for projects for existing, expanding businesses in the preceding calendar year.
(7)	The environmental impact of businesses at projects with respect to which grants have been awarded.
(8)	The geographic distribution of grants, by number and amount, awarded under the program.
For the first annual report after adoption of the guidelines developed by the Department to implement this Subpart, a copy of such guidelines, and, for subsequent reports, identification of any changes in those guidelines from the previous calendar year."
SECTION 2.  The Secretary of Commerce shall develop guidelines related to the administration of the Jobs Catalyst Fund, as authorized by this section, and to the selection of projects. At least 20 days before the effective date of any guidelines or nontechnical amendments to guidelines, the proposed guidelines must be published on the Department's Web site and provide notice to persons who have requested notice of proposed guidelines. In addition, the Department of Commerce shall accept oral and written comments on the proposed guidelines during the 15 business days beginning on the first day the notice requirement of this section has been completed. For purposes of this section, a technical amendment is one that corrects a spelling or grammatical error or that makes a clarification based on public comment and could have been anticipated by the public notice that immediately preceded the public comment.
SECTION 3.  G.S. 150B‑1(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	Exemptions from Rule Making. – Article 2A of this Chapter does not apply to the following:
…
(10a)	The Secretary of Commerce in developing criteria for the Job Catalyst Fund under Subpart B of Part 2G of Article 10 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes.
…."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 143B‑437.07(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Economic Development Incentive. – An economic development incentive includes any grant from the following programs: Job Development Investment Grant Program; the Job Catalyst Fund; the Job Maintenance and Capital Development Fund; One North Carolina Fund; and the Utility Account. The State also incents economic development through the use of tax expenditures in the form of tax credits and refunds. The Department of Revenue must report annually on these statutory economic development incentives, as required under G.S. 105‑256."
SECTION 5.  The unencumbered cash balance of the Job Catalyst Fund (Budget Code 14600‑1912) may be used for the purposes of the Job Catalyst Fund, as created by this act.
SECTION 6.  This act is effective when it becomes law.