§2399.2. Definitions

The following words or terms as used in this Chapter shall have the following meaning, unless a different meaning appears from the context:

(1) "Department" means the Department of Economic Development.

(2)(a) "Employer" means a legal person who is engaged in a lawful enterprise not excluded by this Chapter that executes a contract with the department pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter and meets the following elements or elements substantially equivalent thereto:

(b) To qualify for a contract pursuant to this Chapter, employers must be a manufacturer, as defined by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes 113310, 211, 213111, 541360, 311-339, 511-512, and 54171, as the employer's primary function.

(c) The following employers or persons engaged in the following professions or service industries shall not be eligible for any credit under this Chapter:

(i) Retail employers as identified by the North American Industry Classification System code sections 44 and 45.

(ii) Business associations and professional organizations as defined in North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 8139.

(iii) State and local government enterprises.

(iv) Real estate agents, operators, and lessors.

(v) Automotive rental and leasing.

(vi) Local solid waste disposal, local sewage systems, and local water systems businesses.

(vii) Nonprofit organizations.

(viii) Employers engaged in the gaming industry as identified by the North American Industrial Classification System code sections 713210 and 721120.

(ix) Attorneys.

(d) The department may promulgate rules annually listing other employers, professions, or service industries which are eligible and not eligible for any credit pursuant to this Chapter, and such rules shall not take effect unless presented to the Louisiana Economic Development Council and approved by both the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs in a public meeting held for such purpose.

(3) "Modernization" means capitalized investment by an employer in technology, machinery, building and/or equipment that meets one of the following provisions:

(a) An increase in the increase of maximum capacity or efficiency of the facility of greater than ten percent. The modernization must result in the facility adopting "best practices" technology for its industry and the company shall establish that without the investment that the facility would be a high risk for closure in the foreseeable future. Modernization does not include the replacing of existing technology with the same or similar technology.

(b) An approved investment from a company with multi-state operations with an established competitive capital project program.

(4) "Project" includes the design, development, installation and construction of a technology, machinery, building and equipment that results in a modernization of an employer's product line, unit, or entire operations that requires at least five million dollars of investment.

(5) "Qualified expenditures" means amounts classified as capital expenditures for federal income tax purposes plus exclusions from capitalization provided for in Internal Revenue Code Section 263(a)(1)(A) through (L), minus the capitalized cost of land, capitalized leases of land, capitalized interest, and the capitalized cost for the purchase of an existing building. When an employer purchases an existing building and capital expenditures are used to rehabilitate the building, only the costs of the rehabilitation shall be considered qualified expenditures. Additionally, an employer shall be allowed to increase his qualified expenditures to the extent an employer's capitalized basis is properly reduced by claiming a federal credit.

Acts 2009, No. 447, §1.