Senate passes bill to incentive Alabama companies to hire vets, create jobs in rural counties

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April 3, 2015

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A bill passed by the Alabama Senate Thursday, The Alabama Veterans and Targeted Counties Act, will incentivize companies to hire veterans, as well as open up operations in Alabama’s rural counties.

The bill, HB57, defines “rural” as any county that has fewer than 25,000 residents. It applies to 23 of Alabama’s 67 counties.

Part of the Senate GOP’s “Paving a Path Ahead” agenda, HB57 is also a complementary bill to the Alabama Jobs Act.

“Our state economy is recovering, but we must do more to create the right business environment to attract new jobs, especially in the rural areas,” said Senator Majority Leader Greg Reed (R-Jasper), HB57’s sponsor in the Senate. “The Alabama Veterans and Targeted Counties Act helps us achieve this goal by providing specific economic incentives for companies that create new jobs in our state’s more rural counties.”

Representative Elaine Beech (D-Chatom) carried the bill in the House.

The bill increases the Alabama Jobs Act’s 3 percent tax credit to new businesses to 4 percent if the new jobs are created in rural counties, and the threshold of 50 new jobs to be eligible for the incentive is lowered to 25. New businesses who hire veterans for at least 12 percent of their workforce will receive a tax incentive equal to 3.5 percent of payroll.

“We owe a debt to our military veterans, because these men and women offered their lives to protect our people. They often have served multiple tours of duty abroad away from their families and loved ones for months at a time,” Sen. Reed remarked. “Veterans also are some of the mostly highly skilled and professional leaders our society has. I’m proud to sponsor this legislation that encourages companies to hire our veterans.”

Governor Bentley signed the Alabama Jobs Act Friday morning, and will receive the The Alabama Veterans and Targeted Counties Act if changes implemented by the Senate are accepted by the House.