Governor Jindal Signs Two New Laws to Increase Louisiana's Economic Competitiveness
Press Release
Governor Bobby Jindal signed two new laws today to increase Louisiana's economic competitiveness. The Governor signed HB 937 and HB 958, both by Rep. Joel Robideaux, which will create a Corporate Headquarters Relocation Program and a Competitive Projects Payroll Incentive Program. Both bills were part of the Governor's 2012 legislative package.
Governor Jindal said, "Over the last four and a half years, we have outperformed the national and southern economies, and in order to continue to attract business investment, we need to stay competitive with the rest of the country and the world. These two new laws will help ensure we continue to foster an economic environment where businesses want to invest, expand and create jobs here for our people."
HB 937 will enable Louisiana Economic Development to offer a 25 percent rebate, spread over five years, on relocation expenses for headquarters that create at least 25 high-paying jobs. The program will significantly enhance Louisiana's efforts to attract some of the most competitive and most attractive of all projects in the site-selection world: corporate headquarters. This is because company headquarters come with significant economic output, well-compensated professional workforces and prestige. This option will only be offered for projects that yield a positive return on investment for the state.
HB 958 creates a payroll incentive for highly competitive projects. Louisiana's current Quality Jobs incentive program provides up to a 6 percent payroll rebate to eligible companies that meet statutory eligibility requirements by creating high-quality jobs in Louisiana. This new law for highly competitive projects enables Louisiana Economic Development to offer a new incentive up to 15 percent of payroll to secure new jobs in target sectors. This option will only be offered for projects that yield a positive return on investment for the state and the level of the rebate will be determined by the return on investment.
The Governor previously signed HB 729 by Rep. Joel Robideaux which creates the Corporate Tax Apportionment Program and is also part of the Governor's 2012 legislative package.
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