Florida Senate - 2011                                    SB 1958
       
       
       
       By Senator Smith
       
       
       
       
       29-01289A-11                                          20111958__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to green job creation; creating s.
    3         220.194, F.S.; providing definitions; providing
    4         definitional criteria that qualify a job for a green
    5         job corporate tax credit; providing tax credits
    6         against the corporate income tax for the creation of
    7         qualifying green jobs; specifying the amount of the
    8         tax credit for each green job created and the maximum
    9         number of jobs for which a taxpayer may claim a
   10         credit; limiting the availability of green job tax
   11         credits to a specified period of tax years; providing
   12         for carryover of the tax credit; restricting a
   13         taxpayer from taking more than one tax credit for the
   14         same job under certain circumstances; disqualifying
   15         jobs transferred from one location to another from tax
   16         credit eligibility; requiring the Agency for Workforce
   17         Innovation to establish a Green Collar Jobs Council;
   18         providing membership of the council; providing duties
   19         and responsibilities of the council; providing a
   20         definition; providing for annual reports of the
   21         council; providing an effective date.
   22  
   23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   24  
   25         Section 1. Section 220.194, Florida Statutes, is created to
   26  read:
   27         220.194 Green job creation tax credit.—
   28         (1) Notwithstanding s. 220.03(1)(ff), for purposes of this
   29  section, the term:
   30         (a) “Green job” means employment in an industry relating to
   31  the field of renewable, alternative energies, including the
   32  manufacturing and operation of products used to generate
   33  electricity and other forms of energy from alternative sources,
   34  including hydrogen and fuel cell technology, landfill gas,
   35  geothermal heating systems, solar heating systems, hydropower
   36  systems, wind systems, and biomass and biofuel systems.
   37         (b) “Job” means the employment of an individual whose
   38  primary work activity is related directly to the field of
   39  renewable, alternative energies, requiring a minimum of either:
   40         1. Thirty-five hours of an employee’s time per week for the
   41  entire normal year of such taxpayer’s operations, which normal
   42  year must consist of at least 48 weeks; or
   43         2. One thousand six hundred and eighty hours per year.
   44         (2) For each taxable year commencing on or after January 1,
   45  2012, and ending on or before January 1, 2017, a taxpayer is
   46  allowed a credit against the tax imposed under this chapter for
   47  each new green job created within the state by the taxpayer. The
   48  annual credit is $500 for the creation of each new green job
   49  with an annual salary of at least $50,000. Credits may be taken
   50  for the creation of up to a maximum of 350 green jobs in a
   51  single taxable year. The credit is available in the first
   52  taxable year after the job has been filled for at least one year
   53  and remains available for each succeeding taxable year that ends
   54  on or before January 1, 2017, provided the job is continuously
   55  filled during the respective taxable year. To qualify for the
   56  tax credit provided in this subsection, a taxpayer must
   57  demonstrate that the green job was created by the taxpayer and
   58  that the job was continuously filled in this state during the
   59  respective taxable year.
   60         (3) The total amount of credit taken in a taxable year
   61  under this section may not exceed the total amount of taxes
   62  imposed by this chapter for the taxable year in which the green
   63  job was continuously filled. If the amount of credit allowed
   64  exceeds the taxpayer’s tax liability under this chapter for the
   65  taxable year, the amount that exceeds the tax liability may be
   66  carried over for credit against the income taxes of the taxpayer
   67  in each successive taxable year ending on or before January 1,
   68  2017, or until the total amount of the tax credit has been
   69  taken, whichever occurs sooner.
   70         (4) If the taxpayer qualifies for a tax credit under this
   71  section for the creation of a green job in an enterprise zone
   72  and also qualifies for a credit for the creation of a new job in
   73  an enterprise zone under s. 220.181, the taxpayer may not claim
   74  a credit for creation of the same job under both sections.
   75         (5) A job created as the result of a job function being
   76  transferred from one location in this state to another location
   77  does not qualify for a tax credit under this section.
   78         Section 2. Green Collar Jobs Council.—
   79         (1) The Agency for Workforce Innovation shall establish a
   80  council known as the Green Collar Jobs Council, comprised of
   81  appropriate representatives from the existing membership of the
   82  board of directors and the councils and committees of Workforce
   83  Florida, Inc. The membership of the council includes, but is not
   84  limited to, individuals who represent the following interests:
   85         (a) K-12 education.
   86         (b) Postsecondary education.
   87         (c) Business.
   88         (d) Transportation.
   89         (e) Housing.
   90         (f) Employment development.
   91         (2) The council may consult with other state agencies,
   92  higher education representatives, local workforce investment
   93  boards, and industry representatives as well as philanthropic,
   94  nongovernmental, and environmental groups, as appropriate, in
   95  the development of a strategic initiative. As part of the
   96  strategic initiative, the council shall focus on developing the
   97  framework, funding, strategies, programs, policies,
   98  partnerships, and opportunities necessary to address the growing
   99  need for a highly skilled and well-trained workforce to meet the
  100  needs of the state’s emerging green economy.
  101         (3) As part of developing a strategic initiative and
  102  fulfilling its mission, the council shall:
  103         (a) Assist in identifying and linking green collar job
  104  opportunities with workforce development training opportunities
  105  in local workforce investment areas and encourage regional
  106  collaboration among local workforce investment areas to meet
  107  regional economic demands.
  108         (b) Develop public, private, philanthropic, and
  109  nongovernmental partnerships to build and expand the state’s
  110  workforce development programs, network, and infrastructure.
  111         (c) Provide policy guidance to the clean and green
  112  technology sectors for the creation of job training programs
  113  that help prepare specific populations, such as at-risk youth,
  114  displaced workers, veterans, formerly incarcerated individuals,
  115  and others facing barriers to employment.
  116         (d) Develop, collect, analyze, and distribute statewide and
  117  regional labor market data on the state’s new and emerging green
  118  industries, including data on workforce needs, trends, and job
  119  growth.
  120         (e) Identify funding resources and recommend how to expand
  121  and leverage those funding resources.
  122         (f) Foster regional collaboration in the green economic
  123  sector.
  124         (4) As used in this section, the term “green” means
  125  relating to the field of renewable, alternative energies,
  126  including the manufacturing and operation of products used to
  127  generate electricity and other forms of energy from alternative
  128  sources, including hydrogen and fuel cell technology, landfill
  129  gas, geothermal heating systems, solar heating systems,
  130  hydropower systems, wind systems, and biomass and biofuel
  131  systems.
  132         (5) On or before June 30, 2012, and annually thereafter on
  133  or before June 30, the Agency for Workforce Innovation shall
  134  report to the Legislature on the status of the council’s
  135  activities and its development of a green workforce strategic
  136  initiative.
  137         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.