Bill Text: MI SB0014 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Labor; employment incentives; work opportunity employer reimbursement program; create. Creates new act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-12-13 - Referred To Committee On Law And Justice [SB0014 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2017-SB0014-Engrossed.html
SB-0014, As Passed Senate, February 2, 2017
SENATE BILL No. 14
January 18, 2017, Introduced by Senators BRANDENBURG, O'BRIEN, PROOS, COLBECK, KNOLLENBERG, JONES, BOOHER, HORN, SCHUITMAKER, HANSEN, KOWALL, GREGORY, JOHNSON and WARREN and referred to the Committee on Michigan Competitiveness.
A bill to establish and implement a work opportunity employer
reimbursement program; and to prescribe the powers and duties of
certain state agencies and officials.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "work
opportunity act".
Sec. 3. As used in this act:
(a) "Department" means the department of talent and economic
development.
(b) "Employer" means an employer as defined in section 3401(d)
of the internal revenue code of 1986, 26 USC 3401. Any person
required to withhold for federal income tax purposes shall prima
facie be deemed an employer.
(c) "Full-time job" means a service performed by an individual
for 35 hours or more each week and whose income and social security
taxes are withheld from the wages earned by that individual for
performing the service.
(d) "Fund" means the work opportunity employer reimbursement
fund created in section 7.
(e) "Grant program" means the work opportunity employer
reimbursement program established in section 5.
(f) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation,
association, governmental entity, or other legal entity.
(g) "Qualified employee" means an individual who is currently
on probation or parole.
(h) "Qualified first-year wages" means the wages paid or
incurred by the employer attributable to services rendered by a
qualified employee during the 1-year period beginning with the day
the qualified employee begins work for the employer.
(i) "Qualified new job" means a full-time job created by the
employer or another full-time job previously held by another
employee who separated from employment voluntarily or for cause.
Sec. 5. (1) The department shall establish and implement a
work opportunity employer reimbursement program that uses money
from the fund to provide grants to employers for the hiring of
qualified employees.
(2) The grant program shall require that an employer applying
to receive a grant shall employ at least 1 qualified employee in a
qualified new job for a minimum of 120 hours.
(3) An employer that wishes to apply for a grant shall submit
an application to the department containing the information
required by the department, including all of the following:
(a) The employer's federal employer identification number or
the department of treasury number assigned to the employer.
(b) The qualified employee's department of corrections number,
if applicable, and the status of his or her parole or probation.
(c) The amount of qualified first-year wages.
(4) If the department approves a grant, the department shall
notify the employer. Upon confirmation that the employer has hired
a qualified employee who worked at least 120 hours in a qualified
new job, the department shall, subject to the limitation under
subsection (5), approve and disburse the grant funds to the
employer as follows:
(a) For a qualified employee who worked at least 120 hours but
not more than 400 hours, an amount equal to 25% of the qualified
first-year wages or $1,500.00, whichever is less.
(b) For a qualified employee who worked more than 400 hours,
an amount equal to 40% of the qualified first-year wages or
$2,400.00, whichever is less.
(5) The department shall not approve a grant of more than
$7,200.00 per employer per fiscal year.
Sec. 7. (1) The work opportunity employer reimbursement fund
is created within the state treasury.
(2) The state treasurer may receive money or other assets from
any source for deposit into the fund. The state treasurer shall
direct the investment of the fund. The state treasurer shall credit
to the fund interest and earnings from fund investments.
(3) Money in the fund at the close of the fiscal year shall
remain in the fund and shall not lapse to the general fund.
(4) The Michigan talent investment agency in the department
shall be the administrator of the fund for auditing purposes.
(5) The Michigan talent investment agency shall expend money
from the fund, upon appropriation, only for 1 or more of the
following purposes:
(a) Grants issued pursuant to the grant program.
(b) Not more than 10% of the money appropriated from the fund
for the employment of not more than 1 FTE to administer the grant
program.
Sec. 9. The department shall prepare an annual report that
describes the money received by the fund, the balance of the fund,
the total expenditures from the fund, and the number of grants
issued with money from the fund for that year. The department shall
provide this report to the standing committees of each house of the
legislature with jurisdiction over corrections issues.
