Bill Text: IA SF75 | 2019-2020 | 88th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to grants for new remote workers who relocate to this state and who are employed by an out-of-state employer and creating and making appropriations to the new remote worker grant fund.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-01-31 - Subcommittee recommends passage. [SF75 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2019-SF75-Introduced.html
Senate File 75 - Introduced SENATE FILE 75 BY WHITING A BILL FOR An Act relating to grants for new remote workers who relocate 1 to this state and who are employed by an out-of-state 2 employer and creating and making appropriations to the new 3 remote worker grant fund. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 1553SS (5) 88 ko/jh
S.F. 75 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 15.221 New remote worker grant 1 program. 2 1. a. The economic development authority shall, pursuant to 3 section 15.106A, subsection 1, paragraph “o” , establish a new 4 remote worker grant fund for the purpose of providing grants to 5 new remote workers pursuant to this section. 6 b. The fund may consist of any moneys appropriated by the 7 general assembly for purposes of this section and any other 8 moneys that are lawfully available to the authority, including 9 moneys transferred or deposited from other funds created 10 pursuant to section 15.106A, subsection 1, paragraph “o” . 11 c. The authority shall use any moneys specifically 12 appropriated for purposes of this section only for the purposes 13 of this section. 14 d. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys remaining in the 15 fund at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to any fund 16 and shall remain in the fund. 17 e. There is appropriated from the general fund of the state 18 to the new remote worker grant fund for the new remote worker 19 grant program the following amounts: 20 (1) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019, seven 21 hundred fifty thousand dollars. 22 (2) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2020, three 23 hundred fifty thousand dollars. 24 (3) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2021, four hundred 25 thousand dollars. 26 (4) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2022, four hundred 27 fifty thousand dollars. 28 (5) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023, five hundred 29 thousand dollars. 30 2. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise 31 requires: 32 a. “Coworking space” means a shared office space in which 33 individuals that are not employed by the same organization work 34 independently or collaboratively. 35 -1- LSB 1553SS (5) 88 ko/jh 1/ 4
S.F. 75 b. “New remote worker” means an individual who meets all of 1 the following requirements: 2 (1) Is a full-time employee, as defined by the employer, 3 of a business that is domiciled or has its primary place of 4 business outside of this state. 5 (2) Performs the majority of the worker’s duties for the 6 business remotely from a home office or a coworking space 7 located in this state. 8 (3) Becomes a full-time resident of this state on or after 9 January 1, 2020. 10 c. “Qualifying remote worker expenses” means actual, 11 substantiated costs that a new remote worker incurs for any of 12 the following that are necessary to perform the remote worker’s 13 employment duties and that are not reimbursed by the employer: 14 (1) Relocation to this state. 15 (2) Computer software and hardware. 16 (3) Broadband access or upgrade. 17 (4) Membership in a coworking space or a similar space. 18 3. A new remote worker shall be eligible for a grant under 19 this program for qualifying remote worker expenses in an amount 20 not to exceed five thousand dollars per calendar year for a 21 maximum of two calendar years. 22 4. Subject to funding, the authority shall award grants 23 under this program on a first-come, first-served basis, with 24 the following limitations on total grants: 25 a. Not to exceed seven hundred fifty thousand dollars in 26 calendar year 2020. 27 b. Not to exceed three hundred fifty thousand dollars in 28 calendar year 2021. 29 c. Not to exceed four hundred thousand dollars in calendar 30 year 2022. 31 d. Not to exceed four hundred fifty thousand dollars in 32 calendar year 2023. 33 e. Not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars in calendar 34 year 2024. 35 -2- LSB 1553SS (5) 88 ko/jh 2/ 4
S.F. 75 f. To the extent funds remain available, not to exceed two 1 hundred thousand dollars in any subsequent calendar year. 2 5. The authority shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A 3 to implement and administer this section. 4 6. The authority shall submit a report to the general 5 assembly and the governor’s office each year that moneys are 6 appropriated to the fund established in this section that 7 provides the total number of grants awarded, the amount of each 8 grant, the state where each grantee’s employer is located, the 9 city and county in this state to which each grantee relocated, 10 whether the new remote worker works out of the person’s home 11 or a coworking space, and if applicable, the city and county 12 in which the coworking space is located. The report shall be 13 submitted by January 31 of each year for the prior calendar 14 year. 15 EXPLANATION 16 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 17 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 18 This bill relates to grants for new remote workers who 19 relocate to this state and who are employed by an out-of-state 20 employer and creates and makes appropriations to the new remote 21 worker grant fund. 22 The bill defines “new remote worker” as an individual who is 23 a full-time employee of a business that is domiciled or has its 24 primary place of business outside of this state, who performs 25 the majority of the person’s duties for the business remotely 26 from a home office or a coworking space located in this state, 27 and who becomes a full-time resident of this state on or after 28 January 1, 2020. 29 Under the bill, a new remote worker is eligible for a 30 grant for qualifying remote worker expenses in an amount not 31 to exceed $5,000 per calendar year. A new remote worker is 32 eligible for a grant for a maximum of two calendar years. 33 “Qualifying remote worker expenses” is defined in the bill as 34 actual, substantiated costs that a new remote worker incurs 35 -3- LSB 1553SS (5) 88 ko/jh 3/ 4
S.F. 75 for relocation to this state, computer software and hardware, 1 broadband access or upgrade, and membership in a coworking 2 space. The expenses must be necessary to perform the remote 3 worker’s employment duties and cannot also be reimbursed by the 4 employer. “Coworking space” is defined in the bill. 5 The bill requires the authority to establish a new remote 6 worker grant fund for the purpose of providing grants to 7 new remote workers. There is appropriated from the general 8 fund of the state to the remote worker grant fund for the 9 new remote worker grant program $750,000 for the fiscal year 10 beginning July 1, 2019, $350,000 for the fiscal year beginning 11 July 1, 2020, $400,000 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 12 2021, $450,000 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2022, 13 and $500,000 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023. 14 Notwithstanding Code section 8.33, moneys remaining in the fund 15 at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to any fund and 16 shall remain in the fund. 17 Subject to funding, the authority is required by the bill to 18 award grants on a first-come, first-served basis, not exceeding 19 total grants of $750,000 in calendar year 2020, $350,000 in 20 calendar year 2021, $400,000 in calendar year 2022, $450,000 21 in calendar year 2023, and $500,000 in calendar year 2024. To 22 the extent funds remain available in subsequent calendar years, 23 total grants cannot exceed $200,000 in any calendar year. 24 The bill requires the Iowa economic development authority 25 to adopt rules to implement and administer the requirements of 26 the bill. 27 The authority must submit a report to the general 28 assembly and the governor’s office each year that moneys are 29 appropriated to the fund providing details related to the 30 grants and grantees. The report is due by January 31 of every 31 year for the immediately preceding calendar year. 32 -4- LSB 1553SS (5) 88 ko/jh 4/ 4
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