By Allen                                        H.B. No. 2152

      75R3918 DAK-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to tax credits.

 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-4            ARTICLE 1.  WAGES PAID TO AN INMATE OR FORMER INMATE

 1-5           SECTION 1.01.  Section 171.653(a), Tax Code, is amended to

 1-6     read as follows:

 1-7           (a)  The amount of the credit for wages paid by a corporation

 1-8     to an inmate is equal to the lesser of:

 1-9                 (1)  10 percent of [that portion of] the wages paid to

1-10     the inmate; or

1-11                 (2)  the amount that the department apportions to the

1-12     state under Section 497.004(b)(3), Government Code, as

1-13     reimbursement for the cost of the inmate's confinement.

1-14           SECTION 1.02.  Section 171.654(a), Tax Code, is amended to

1-15     read as follows:

1-16           (a)  The amount of the credit for wages paid by a corporation

1-17     to an employee who was employed by the corporation when the

1-18     employee was an inmate is equal to the lesser of:

1-19                 (1)  10 percent of [that portion of] the wages paid to

1-20     the employee; or

1-21                 (2)  the amount that, were the employee still an

1-22     inmate, the department would apportion to the state under Section

1-23     497.004(b)(3), Government Code, as reimbursement for the cost of

1-24     the inmate's confinement.

 2-1           SECTION 1.03.  A corporation may claim the credit under

 2-2     Subchapter L, Chapter 171, Tax Code, as amended by this article,

 2-3     only for any wages paid or incurred on or after the effective date

 2-4     of this article and only on a franchise tax report due under

 2-5     Chapter 171, Tax Code, on or after January 1, 1998.

 2-6         ARTICLE 2.  WAGES PAID TO CERTAIN CHILDREN COMMITTED TO THE

 2-7                           TEXAS YOUTH COMMISSION

 2-8           SECTION 2.01.  Section 171.681(2), Tax Code, is amended to

 2-9     read as follows:

2-10                 (2)  "Eligible child" means a person who:

2-11                       (A)  is committed to the commission under Title

2-12     3, Family Code[, other than a commitment under a determinate

2-13     sentence under Section 54.04(d)(3), 54.04(m), 54.05(f), Family

2-14     Code]; and

2-15                       (B)  resides at a facility of the commission.

2-16           SECTION 2.02.  A corporation that has employed a child who,

2-17     before the effective date of this article, was not an eligible

2-18     child as defined by Section 171.681(2), Tax Code, but who, on or

2-19     after the effective date of this article is an eligible child as

2-20     defined by Section 171.681(2), as amended by this article, may

2-21     include, for the purposes of determining the corporation's

2-22     eligibility for the franchise tax credit under Subchapter M,

2-23     Chapter 171, Tax Code, the period during which the child was

2-24     employed.  This section does not authorize a credit in an amount

2-25     that exceeds the amount that would have been authorized if the

2-26     child had been eligible before the effective date of this article.

2-27     The corporation may include employment for the purposes of this

 3-1     section only for the privilege period, as described by Section

 3-2     171.151, Tax Code, in which this article becomes effective.

 3-3                            ARTICLE 3.  EMERGENCY

 3-4           SECTION 3.01.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-5     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 3-6     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-7     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-8     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

 3-9     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

3-10     passage, and it is so enacted.