 From Site Selection magazine, November 2003 
U.S. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
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South Carolina
A new bill requires the Dept. of Commerce to disclose details of incentive packages offered to companies looking to invest in South Carolina once deals have been concluded, allowing the public to judge the fiscal impact of the state's offers. The bill also tightens up the definition of public monies, requiring the department to disclose expenditures from its previously secret special events fund. The Dept. of Commerce has been reorganized into an Administrative division plus the three growth-oriented divisions of Business Development, Business Solutions, and Community and Rural Development. In September 2003, Secretary of Commerce Bob Faith named Joseph James as COO. More than 5,000 workers from 91 different plants received training from the state's 16-campus Technical College System during the most recent fiscal year. And as a result of new legislation, some $44.6 million is being added to the K-12 education budget.
South Dakota
The Department of Tourism and State Development is part of Gov. Michael Rounds' Executive Reorganization Order, which combines the Governor's Office of Economic Development, Department of Tourism, Office of Tribal Relations, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the South Dakota Housing Development Authority. The state has signed on to the multi-state streamlines sales tax agreement. A credit is now available against certain taxes paid by railroads for the replacement and repair of rail lines. The same bill contains provisions regarding the distribution of the assessed value of a railroad. In July, Gov. Rounds committed $1.3 million to the South Dakota Technology Business Center in Sioux Falls, to be used specifically to attract biotech firms. Construction of the 38,000-sq.-ft. (3,530-sq.-m.) facility is on schedule for completion in December 2003, when it will be ready to house 15-20 companies.
Tennessee
A new law authorized sales and use tax credits for headquarters facilities, provided there is a minimum investment of $50 million, or $20 million plus the creation of 200 new jobs at wages equal to 200 percent of the average wage in the locale. The state is in the midst of renovating its industrial training programs, while also bringing together some aspects of the community and technical college systems.
Texas
The newly formed Economic Development Bank (under the newly formed Texas Office of Economic Development and Tourism) consolidates 11 lending programs under one division for small and mid-sized companies. The $295-million Texas Enterprise Fund was created to provide incentives for job expansion and retention. Pharmaceutical equipment manufacturers will now be eligible for local tax exemptions. A new law tightens the requirements for the use of certain tax funds to include the requirement that the funds be used for the creation and retention of "primary jobs." Local governments are now prohibited by state law from enacting their own minimum wage standards for private companies. The sales tax exemption on semiconductor cleanroom equipment has been expanded to include the pharmaceutical/biotech industry, when used for manufacturing, processing or fabrication. Eight different campuses of the University of Texas were granted the authority to issue revenue bonds to finance research facilities.
Utah
New legislation established an aerospace redevelopment zone and a fund of funds to foster venture capital formation. The state's leadership in educational attainment is backed by a system of 10 Applied Technology Colleges that provided training to 20,612 individuals from 795 companies during 2001-2002.
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