North Carolina § 143B-437 - 51. Definitions.

§ 143B-437. 51. Definitions.

The following definitions apply in this Part: Agreement. - A community economic development agreement under G.S. 143B-437.57. Base period. - The period of time set by the Committee during which new employees are to be hired for the positions on which the grant is based. Business. - A corporation, sole proprietorship, cooperative association, partnership, S corporation, limited liability company, nonprofit corporation, or other form of business organization, located either within or outside this State. Committee. - The Economic Investment Committee established pursuant to G.S. 143B-437.54. Development tier. - The classification assigned to an area pursuant to G.S. 143B-437.08. Eligible position. - A position created by a business and filled by a new full-time employee in this State during the base period. For purposes of high-yield projects and transformative projects, (i) positions created in the year the business achieves the minimum requirements set forth in this section may be considered eligible positions even if created outside the base period and (ii) in a year other than during the base period, an eligible position must be filled for at least 30 weeks of the applicable grant year. Expansion position. - A position created by a business and filled by a new full-time employee in this State for a transformative project in any year in which the business receives the enhanced percentage of the withholdings of eligible positions pursuant to G.S. 143B-437.56(a1). Full-time employee. - A person who is employed for consideration for at least 35 hours a week, whose wages are subject to withholding under Article 4A of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes, who is not a worker with an H-1B visa or with H-1B status, and who is determined by the Committee to be employed in a permanent position according to criteria it develops in consultation with the Attorney General. The term does not include any person who works as an independent contractor or on a consulting basis for the business. High-yield project. - A project for which the agreement requires that a business invest at least five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) in private funds and create at least 1,750 eligible positions. New employee. - A full-time employee who represents a net increase in the number of the business's employees statewide. Overdue tax debt. - Defined in G.S. 105-243.1. Related member. - Defined in G.S. 105-130.7A. Transformative project. - A project for which the agreement requires that a business invest at least one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) in private funds and create at least 3,000 eligible positions. Withholdings. - The amount withheld by a business from the wages of employees in eligible positions and, if applicable, expansion positions under Article 4A of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes. History (2002-172, s. 2.1(a); 2003-416, s. 2; 2003-435, 2nd Ex. Sess., s. 2.1; 2006-168, s. 1.1; 2006-252, s. 2.6; 2006-264, s. 69(a); 2015-259, s. 1(a); 2015-264, s. 91(a); 2017-57, s. 15.15A(a); 2018-5, s. 15.1(a).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2006-264, s. 69(a) was repealed, pursuant to the terms of Session Laws 2006-264, s. 69(g), upon Session Laws 2006-168, which amended this section, becoming law. Session Laws 2015-259, s. 1(j), as amended by Session Laws 2015-264, s. 91(a), made the amendment by Session Laws 2015-259, s. 1(a), effective October 1, 2015, and applicable to awards made under Part 2G of Article 10 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes on or after that date. Session Laws 2017-57, s. 15.15A(d), provides: "(d) If the Office of Budget and Management and the Department of Commerce certify in writing to the Director of the Budget that the conditions set forth for infrastructure development of a site for the purpose of securing a community economic development agreement under G.S. 143B-437.57 for a transformative project, as defined in G.S. 143B-437.51, have been met, then the Director of the Budget may use the Savings Reserve Account in the General Fund to implement this section. To implement this section, the State Controller may transfer up to fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) to a reserve in the Office of State Budget and Management for each transformative project for uses consistent with the Site Infrastructure Development Fund established pursuant to G.S. 143B-437.02, and such funds are hereby appropriated for this purpose. Under no circumstances shall the total amount that may be transferred pursuant to this section exceed eighty million dollars ($80,000,000). If it is not necessary to expend all of these funds in accordance with this section, the State Controller shall transfer the remaining funds to the Savings Reserve Account. The authority to transfer amounts pursuant to this subsection expires June 30, 2019." Session Laws 2018-5, s. 15.3(a), effective June 12, 2018, repealed Session Laws 2017-57, s. 15.15A(d) and (e). Session Laws 2017-57, s. 15.15A(e), provides: "(e) Amounts committed in Governor's Letters issued pursuant to Part 2H of Article 10 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes for transformative projects, as defined in G.S. 143B-437.51, do not count towards the limitation provided in G.S. 143B-437.71(b1). Amounts committed pursuant to this subsection may be up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) per job covered by a company performance agreement per year for each job created within a five-year period from the time the first job was created. Amounts paid for a single job may not exceed a term of five years. The authority to commit amounts pursuant to this subsection expires June 30, 2019." Session Laws 2018-5, s. 15.3(a), effective June 12, 2018, repealed Session Laws 2017-57, s. 15.15A(d) and (e). Session Laws 2017-57, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2017.'" Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2018-5, s. 15.1(g), made the amendment of subdivisions (5), (5a), (6), (9a), and (10) of this section by Session Laws 2018-5, s. 15.1(a), effective June 12, 2018, and applicable to grants awarded on or after that date. Session Laws 2018-5, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2018.'" Session Laws 2018-5, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2018-2019 fiscal year." Session Laws 2018-5, s. 39.7, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2006-168, s. 1.1, effective July 27, 2006, rewrote subdivision (2) which read: "Base years. The first 24 months following the date set by the Committee for performance to begin under the agreement."; substituted "period" for "years or in subsequent years of a grant" at the end of subdivision (5); and deleted the former last sentence of subdivision (7) which read: "The term includes an employee who previously filled an eligible position who is rehired or called back from a layoff that occurs during or following the base years to a vacant position previously held by that employee or to a new position established during or following the base years." Session Laws 2006-252, s. 2.6, effective January 1, 2007, redesignated former subdivision (5a) as present subdivision (4a) and in subdivision (4a), substituted "Development tier" for "Enterprise tier" and "G.S. 143B-437.08" for "G.S. 105-129.3." Session Laws 2015-259, s. 1(a), added subdivision (6a). For effective date and applicability, see Editor's note. Session Laws 2017-57, s. 15.15A(a), effective July 1, 2017, added subsection (9a). Session Laws 2018-5, s. 15.1(a), in subdivision (5), added the last sentence; added subdivision (5a); in subdivision (6), inserted "who is not a worker with an H-1B visa or with H-1B status"; in subdivision (9a), substituted "one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000)" for "four billion dollars ($4,000,000,000)" and substituted "3,000" for "5,000"; and in subdivision (10), inserted "positions and, if applicable, expansion." For effective date and applicability, see editor's note.