BILL ANALYSIS |
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C.S.H.B. 2341 |
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By: Darby |
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Ways & Means |
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Committee Report (Substituted) |
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Currently, interested parties note, nonprofit and religious organizations in Texas offer job training and placement services to Texans who face barriers to employment such as homelessness, disability, limited education, or a history of incarceration. Some of these organizations, the parties continue, raise funds through retail stores that sell donated goods and remit sales tax to the state. C.S.H.B. 2341 seeks to support vocational training and job placement services.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2341 amends the Tax Code to authorize an organization that qualifies as a workforce training community center to retain 50 percent of the sales taxes collected by the organization on sales during the period in which the qualifying organization holds a certification from the comptroller of public accounts. The bill exempts the qualifying organization from being required to remit that amount to the comptroller but requires the qualifying organization to show the amount on a required tax report. The bill defines "workforce training community center" as a retailer that is exempt from the payment of federal income taxes under the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by being listed as a charitable organization under that code; that collects and remits to the comptroller sales taxes imposed on the sale of donated goods; that has significant experience in assisting persons with a disability or other barriers to employment with job training and placement services and uses a portion of its revenue to provide those services; that is affiliated with a national or statewide organization; and that has annual sales of at least $1 million.
C.S.H.B. 2341 authorizes a retailer to apply to the comptroller for certification as a qualifying organization and requires the comptroller to certify the applicant as a qualifying organization if the comptroller determines that the applicant meets the requirements to be a workforce training community center. The bill requires a qualifying organization to continue to remit to the comptroller sales taxes imposed by a political subdivision of the state and collected on sales with respect to which the qualifying organization retains sales taxes as authorized by the bill. The bill excludes the reimbursement for tax collections and the discount for prepayment of a taxpayer's tax liability from the amount of sales taxes retained as authorized by the bill.
C.S.H.B. 2341 limits a qualifying organization's use of retained money, except as otherwise provided, to providing a variety of job training and placement services to persons with a disability or other barriers to employment; developing an individualized written training and employment plan for each person assisted to ensure appropriate and successful job placement; and monitoring job retention for each person placed for the first 90 days of employment and providing additional services as needed to support job retention or acquisition of a different job. The bill authorizes a qualifying organization in its first year of certification to use the retained money to improve its infrastructure and otherwise prepare to provide these services but specifies that this authorization does not apply to the period after a qualifying organization's certification is renewed. The bill requires a qualifying organization, after its first year of certification and for every $10,000 in retained sales tax collections, to provide job training and placement services to at least three persons and to successfully place an average of at least 2.25 persons in jobs.
C.S.H.B. 2341 establishes that a retailer that is certified as a qualifying organization retains that certification until the third anniversary of the date of certification. The bill authorizes the comptroller, at any time after a qualifying organization's first year of certification, during the certification period, to require the qualifying organization to demonstrate, in a manner prescribed by the comptroller, that the qualification organization has not used any retained tax collections for a purpose other than those allowed after the first year of certification and that the qualifying organization is successfully meeting or has successfully met, as applicable, the requirements that the organization provide services to at least three persons and place an average of at least 2.25 persons in jobs. The bill makes this authorization a requirement at the conclusion of the certification period.
C.S.H.B. 2341 authorizes the comptroller, after written notice and a hearing, to revoke a certification issued to a retailer that fails to comply with the bill's provisions or a rule adopted therein. The bill entitles a retailer whose certification the comptroller proposes to revoke to 20 days' written notice of the time and place of the hearing on the revocation stating the reason the comptroller is seeking to revoke the retailer's certification. The bill requires the retailer to show cause at the hearing why the retailer's certification should not be revoked. The bill requires the comptroller to give written notice of a certification revocation to the retailer that was certified, which may be sent by mail to the retailer's address as shown in the comptroller's records. The bill requires the comptroller to require an organization whose certification was revoked to remit an amount of its retained tax collections in the comptroller's discretion, but not to exceed $3,333 per person not successfully placed in a job.
C.S.H.B. 2341 authorizes a retailer that is certified as a qualifying organization to apply to renew the certification and authorizes the comptroller to renew a retailer's certification only if the retailer has complied with all requirements during the applicant's certification period and with any other requirements for renewal as prescribed by rules adopted by the comptroller.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 2341 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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