State senators on Wednesday took up a suite of bills intended to extend the state’s expiring job incentives program.

The Senate Finance Committee took no action on three bills, which also propose a number of other steps to reduce taxes and change how they’re calculated. But with one of the bills already approved by the House, the committee’s task in the coming weeks will be to work out which strategies the Senate will move forward for job creation in the state.

“All of those bills have some overlap,” Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, said. “Some of them treat JDIG differently than others.”

Read the details at: http://www.wral.com/senators-vet-options-for-the-future-of-job-incentives-taxes/14598811/

Here’s a look at the incentive bills:

The House and the Senate have rolled out a suite of competing bills that would affect incentive programs and corporate recruitment in North Carolina. Here’s where the legislation stood as of Wednesday.

  • NC Competes Act

House Bill H117​
Expands and extends the Job Development Investment Grant program, meaning a potential $900 million liability over 15 years
Last action: Passed House, pending in Senate committee

  • Job Creation and Tax Relief Act of 2015

Senate Bill 526​
Moves to a “single sales factor,” meaning companies would be taxed only on what they sell in state; retools JDIG and refunds taxes for companies investing $1 billion and hiring 2,500 workers, the scale of large-scale car plants
Last action: Pending in Senate committee

  • Economic Development/Tax Modifications

Senate Bill 338​
Slightly different plan to recalculate corporate taxes, retool JDIG and refund taxes for companies investing $1 billion and hiring 2,500 workers
Last action: Pending in Senate committee

  • Increase JDIG Program Funding

Senate Bill 326​
Stopgap measure extends JDIG by an additional $5 million through 2015
Last action: Passed Senate, pending in House committee

The Job Development Investment Grant program, one of the state’s largest initiatives to offer incentive grants for companies, sunsets at the end of 2015. It’s a tool Gov. Pat McCrory and his commerce secretary have called essential to keeping North Carolina competitive, and he’s been vocal in his insistence that the legislature act quickly to expand and extend it.

The House’s version of the bill, approved early last month and now before the Senate, would extend JDIG until 2020. In addition to tweaking the program’s qualification rules slightly, the proposal would mean a potential liability of $900 million over 15 years.

Two competing Senate bills would extend JDIG only through 2018 but would overhaul the program with an option to give larger grants to “megasite projects” – those investing more than $1 billion and hiring more than 2,500 workers. A project of that size would match up with most major car plants, which the state has sought since the early 1990s.

The renewed discussion in the state Senate comes days after news reports that Volvo Cars passed on North Carolina for a new manufacturing plant. It’s the latest big automobile project the state has lost to states such as Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia.

The two Senate bills would also set rules for county-based wage minimums and take steps to encourage more incentive awards in more rural communities.

Read more at http://www.wral.com/senators-vet-options-for-the-future-of-job-incentives-taxes/14598811/#OMqUOHBqxVMf0xqf.99