Sec. 3. Inbound investment program to recruit jobs to the United States
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/bill/113/s/1615/is/section-3A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall establish a program to award grants to States that are recruiting high-value jobs. Grants awarded under this section may be used to issue forgivable loans to eligible entities that are deciding whether to locate eligible facilities in foreign countries or in the United States to assist such entities in locating such facilities in rural or distressed areas. The Secretary shall carry out the program through the award of grants to States to provide loans described in subsection (c).
A State seeking a grant under the program shall submit an application to the Secretary in such manner and containing such information as the Secretary may require. Once the program is operational, any State may apply for a grant on an ongoing basis, until funds are exhausted. The Secretary may also establish a process for pre-clearing applications from States. The Secretary shall notify all States of this grant opportunity once the program is operational. All information about the program and the State application process must be online and must be in a format that is easily understood and is widely accessible.
Each application submitted by a State under subparagraph
(A)shall include— a description of the eligible entity the State proposes to assist in locating an eligible facility in a rural or distressed area of the State; a description of such facility, including the number of high-value jobs relating to such facility; a description of such rural or distressed area; a description of the resources of the State that the State has committed to assisting such corporation in locating such facility, including tax incentives provided, bonding authority exercised, and land granted; and such other elements as the Secretary considers appropriate. As soon as practicable after establishing the program under subsection (a), the Secretary shall notify all States of the grants available under the program and the process for applying for such grants. The Secretary shall establish a mechanism for the electronic submission of applications under subparagraph (A). Such mechanism shall utilize an Internet website and all information on such website shall be in a format that is easily understood and widely accessible. The Secretary may not make public any information submitted by a State to the Secretary under this paragraph regarding the efforts of such State to assist an eligible entity in locating an eligible facility in such State without the express consent of the State. The Secretary shall award grants under the program on a competitive basis to States that— the Secretary determines are most likely to succeed with a grant under the program in assisting an eligible entity in locating an eligible facility in a rural or distressed area; if successful in assisting an eligible entity as described in subparagraph (A), will create the greatest number of high-value jobs in rural or distressed areas; have committed significant resources, to the extent of their ability as determined by the Secretary, to assisting eligible entities in locating eligible facilities in a rural or distressed areas; or meet such other criteria as the Secretary considers appropriate, including criteria relating to marketing plans, benefits to ongoing regional or State strategies for economic development, and job growth. The Secretary may not award a grant to a State under the program to assist an eligible entity in locating an eligible facility in such State if another State is seeking to assist such eligible entity in locating such eligible facility in such other State. For each grant awarded to a State under the program, the Secretary shall make available to such State the amount of such grant not later than 30 days after the date on which the Secretary awarded the grant. The total amount of grants awarded under this program may not exceed $100,000,000. Amounts received by a State under the program shall be used to provide assistance to an eligible entity to locate an eligible facility in a rural or distressed area of the State. A State receiving a grant under the program shall provide assistance under paragraph
(1)in the form of a single loan to a single eligible entity as described in paragraph
(1)to cover the costs incurred by the eligible entity in locating the eligible facility as described in such paragraph. Each loan provided under paragraph
(2)shall have a term of 5 years and shall bear interest at rates equal to the Federal long-term rate under section 1274(d)(1)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The amount of a loan issued to an eligible entity under the program for the location of an eligible facility shall be an amount equal to not more than $5,000 per full-time equivalent employee to be employed at such facility. Repayment of a loan issued by a State to an eligible entity under the program shall be repaid in accordance with such schedule as the State shall establish in accordance with such rules as the Secretary shall prescribe for purposes of the program. Such rules shall provide for the following: Forgiveness of all or a portion of the loan, the amount of such forgiveness depending upon the following: The performance of the borrower. The number or quality of the jobs at the facility located under the program. Repayment of principal or interest, if any, at the end of the term of the loan. To the degree practicable, the Secretary shall carry out the program through an office of the Department of Commerce that existed on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary shall conduct an ongoing assessment of the program. The Secretary may submit to Congress recommendations for such legislative action as the Secretary considers appropriate to improve the program, including with respect to any findings of the Secretary derived by comparing the program established under subsection
(a)with the programs and policies of governments of other countries used to recruit high-value jobs. In this section: The term distressed , with respect to an area, means an area in the United States that, on the date on which the program is established under subsection (a)— is included in the most recent classification of labor surplus areas by the Secretary of Labor; and has an unemployment rate equal to or great than 110 percent of the unemployment rate of the United States. The term eligible entity means an entity that employs not fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees in high-value jobs. The term eligible facility means a facility at which— an eligible entity employs not fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees in high-value jobs; with respect to a rural or distressed area, the mean of the wages provided by the eligible entity to individuals employed at such facility is greater than the mean wage for the county in which the rural or distressed area is located; and the facility derives at least the majority of its revenues from— goods production; or providing product design, engineering, marketing, or information technology services. The term high-value job means a job that— exists within an eligible facility; and has a North American Industrial Classification that corresponds with manufacturing, software publishers, computer systems design, or related codes, and is higher than the mean hourly wage in the country. The term rural , with respect to an area, means any area in the United States which, as confirmed by the latest decennial census, is not located within— a city, town, or incorporated area that has a population of greater than 20,000 inhabitants; or an urbanized area contiguous and adjacent to a city or town that has a population of greater than 50,000 inhabitants.