                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CLOUD COMPUTING CLUSTER INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT FUND (§ 59.1-284.42)

A. As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:
			&#8220;Affiliate&#8221; means an entity that directly or indirectly through
one or more intermediaries controls, is controlled by, or is under common
control with a qualified company.			&#8220;Capital investment&#8221; means an
investment by or on behalf of a qualified company on or after January 1, 2023,
but prior to July 1, 2040, in real property, tangible personal property, or
both, at a facility that is properly chargeable to a capital account or would be
so chargeable with a proper election.			&#8220;Construction cost&#8221; means
any capital investment, except for the purchase of land, by a qualified company
on or after January 1, 2023, in real or tangible personal property to develop or
support a data center in a locality identified in a memorandum of understanding.
&#8220;Construction cost&#8221; includes infrastructure
costs.			&#8220;Facility&#8221; means the one or more buildings, group of
buildings, and ancillary facilities and equipment that are located in a locality
or localities identified in a memorandum of understanding and that are owned,
occupied, or otherwise operated by or for the qualified company for data center
and cloud computing cluster operations.			&#8220;Fund&#8221; means the Cloud
Computing Cluster Infrastructure Grant Fund.			&#8220;Grant&#8221; means a grant
from the Fund awarded to a qualified company that is intended to pay or
reimburse the qualified company for (i) infrastructure costs related to the
construction and support of facilities and (ii) costs for workforce development,
recruiting, and training.			&#8220;Infrastructure costs&#8221; includes the
costs related to fiber, water, wastewater, and stormwater facilities; gas
pipelines; electrical transmission and distribution lines; and site clearing,
grading, and other improvements to support the construction and development of a
facility.			&#8220;Locality&#8221; means a county or city in the Commonwealth in
which a company makes an eligible investment in a facility and creates new
full-time jobs, that is identified in a memorandum of understanding, and that
has entered into a performance agreement.			&#8220;Local match&#8221; means the
funds committed by a locality identified in a memorandum of understanding to a
qualified company related to the construction and operation of a facility. The
local match shall be at least twice the amount provided from the Fund to the
qualified company related to the construction of, and creation of new full-time
jobs at, the facility in such locality, as set forth in a performance agreement.
Expenditures by a locality that the Secretary has certified as infrastructure
costs incurred by the locality at the request of the qualified company may be
counted toward the local match obligation.			&#8220;MEI Commission&#8221; means
the MEI Project Approval Commission established pursuant to Chapter 47 (§
30-309 et seq.) of Title 30.			&#8220;Memorandum of understanding&#8221; means a
memorandum of understanding entered into on or after January 1, 2023, between a
qualified company, the Commonwealth, and VEDP that sets forth (i) the grant
amount that the qualified company shall be eligible to receive for each new
full-time job created and each $1 million of capital investment in construction
costs made; (ii) the total aggregate amount of grants that the qualified company
shall be eligible to receive; (iii) the performance date; (iv) the requirements
and timing for capital investment and new full-time job creation by the
qualified company; (v) the identification of the locality or localities in which
such investment and job creation shall take place; and (vi) any other terms and
conditions deemed necessary or appropriate to be eligible for grant payments
from the Fund.			&#8220;New full-time jobs&#8221; means job positions created on
or after January 1, 2023, but prior to July 1, 2040, in which the employee of a
qualified company works at a facility, for which the average annual wage is at
least one and one-half times the prevailing wage of the locality where the job
is located, and for which the qualified company provides standard fringe
benefits. Such position shall require a minimum of either (i) 35 hours of an
employee&#8217;s time per week for the entire normal year of the
employer&#8217;s operations, which normal year shall consist of at least 48
weeks, or (ii) 1,680 hours per year. Seasonal or temporary positions shall not
qualify as new full-time jobs. Positions created after January 1, 2023, by
contractors that are dedicated full-time to providing operational services after
the opening of a facility may constitute new full-time jobs of the qualified
company but shall not exceed 20 percent of the number used to meet any
performance criteria for the creation of new full-time jobs. A position created
when a job function is shifted from an existing location in the Commonwealth to
a new facility shall qualify as a new full-time job if the qualified company
certifies that it has hired a new employee or contractor to fill substantially
the same job at the existing location as that performed by the transferred
position. Such jobs shall be in addition to any full-time jobs that a qualified
company had in the Commonwealth as of January 1, 2023.			&#8220;Performance
agreement&#8221; means an agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2023,
between a qualified company, a locality identified in a memorandum of
understanding, and VEDP that commits the locality to provide local funds, either
as annual cash grants or via the expenditure of local funds, for infrastructure
costs related to the qualified company. The local commitment shall equal at
least twice the amount of grants from the Fund committed by the Commonwealth for
capital investment and the creation of new full-time jobs in such locality. Such
performance agreement may also include commitments related to accelerated
permitting, property tax classifications, and other such issues to which the
parties agree.			&#8220;Performance date&#8221; means the date set forth in a
memorandum of understanding by which capital investment and new full-time job
creation targets shall be met in order to qualify for grants from the
Fund.			&#8220;Qualification&#8221; means the process by which a company becomes
a qualified company eligible to enter into a memorandum of understanding and
receive grants from the Fund. Qualification shall require:

   1. An endorsement by the MEI Commission that the company be approved by the
   General Assembly to receive grants from the Fund. Such endorsement shall
   include a recommendation by the MEI Commission as to the grant amount that the
   company shall receive for each new full-time job created and each $1 million
   of capital investment in construction costs made, as well as a recommendation
   as to the total, aggregate amount of grants from the Fund that the company
   shall be eligible to receive. The recommendation regarding the amount of the
   grants shall be based upon information provided by VEDP to the MEI Commission
   based upon a return-on-investment analysis; and

   2. Approval by the General Assembly in a general appropriation act, including
   approval of the specific grant amount that the company shall receive for each
   new full-time job created and each $1 million of capital investment in
   construction costs made, as well as the total, aggregate amount of grants from
   the Fund that the company shall be eligible to receive and the date of
   endorsement by the MEI Commission.
   				If the MEI Commission endorses a company to receive grants from the Fund,
   and legislation to implement the MEI Commission&#8217;s recommendation is
   introduced in a subsequent session of the General Assembly, the specific grant
   amount recommended and any other recommended legislative changes shall become
   public at such time as the company publicly declares its intention to make or
   cause to be made a capital investment at facilities of at least $50 billion
   and to create at least 1,500 new full-time jobs that pay an average annual
   wage of at least one and one-half times the prevailing wage of the locality
   where the job is located, but in no case later than the first day of the
   session of the General Assembly in which approval is
   sought.				&#8220;Qualified company&#8221; means a company, including its
   affiliates, that, after qualification, enters into a memorandum of
   understanding and is expected by the performance date to (i) make or cause to
   be made a capital investment at facilities in localities identified in the
   memorandum of understanding of at least $50 billion and (ii) create at least
   1,500 new full-time jobs that pay an average annual wage of at least one and
   one-half times the prevailing wage of the locality where the job is
   located.				&#8220;Secretary&#8221; means the Secretary of Commerce and Trade
   or his designee.				&#8220;VEDP&#8221; means the Virginia Economic Development
   Partnership Authority.

B. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to
be known as the Cloud Computing Cluster Infrastructure Grant Fund. The Fund
shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. All funds appropriated for
the Fund shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Fund.
Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited
to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end
of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the
Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely for the purpose of making grant
payments pursuant to this chapter. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund
shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller
pursuant to subsection F.

C. A qualified company shall be eligible to receive grant payments for each
fiscal year beginning with the Commonwealth&#8217;s fiscal year starting on July
1, 2025, and ending no later than the Commonwealth&#8217;s fiscal year starting
on July 1, 2044, based upon its actual investments and the number of new
full-time jobs created prior to the performance date in localities that have
entered into a performance agreement. The grant payments under this section
shall be paid to the qualified company from the Fund, subject to appropriation
by the General Assembly, during each such fiscal year, contingent upon the
qualified company meeting the requirements for receiving grant payments set
forth in this section and in the memorandum of understanding. The amount of the
grant payment in each fiscal year shall be calculated based upon the grant
amount approved for the qualified company for each new full-time job created by
the qualified company in the prior calendar year and each $1 million of capital
investment in construction costs by the qualified company in the prior calendar
year, as approved by the General Assembly and included in the memorandum of
understanding. The total aggregate amount of all grants paid to a qualified
company shall not exceed the amount approved by the General Assembly and
included in the memorandum of understanding.

D. Capital investments made by a qualified company and new full-time jobs
created in a locality that (i) was not identified in the memorandum of
understanding and (ii) did not enter into a performance agreement shall not
qualify for grant payments pursuant to this chapter.

E. A qualified company applying for a grant payment pursuant to this chapter
shall provide evidence, satisfactory to the Secretary, of (i) the capital
investment in construction costs as of the last day of the calendar year that
immediately precedes the application date; (ii) the aggregate number of new
full-time jobs created and maintained as of the last day of the calendar year
that immediately precedes the date of the application; and (iii) an average
annual wage of the new full-time jobs of at least one and one-half times the
prevailing wage of the locality where the job is located. The application and
evidence shall be filed with the Secretary in person, by mail, or as otherwise
agreed upon in the memorandum of understanding, by no later than April 1 of each
year following the end of the calendar year upon which the evidence set forth is
based. Failure to meet the filing deadline shall result in a deferral of a
scheduled grant payment. For filings by mail, the postmark cancellation shall
govern the date of the filing determination.

F. Within 60 days of receiving the application and evidence pursuant to
subsection E, the Secretary shall certify to the Comptroller and the qualified
company the verification of the information contained in the application and the
resulting amount of the grant payments to which the grant-eligible company may
be entitled for payment. Such grant payments shall be made annually by check or
electronic payment issued by the State Treasurer on warrant of the Comptroller
in each fiscal year following the submission of such application, as provided in
the memorandum of understanding. The Comptroller shall not draw any warrants to
issue checks or electronic payments for grant payments under this chapter
without a specific appropriation for the same.

G. As a condition for the receipt of a grant payment, a qualified company shall
make available for inspection to the Secretary, upon request, documents relevant
and applicable to determining whether the qualified company has met the
requirements for the receipt of a grant payment as set forth in this chapter and
subject to the memorandum of understanding. Copies of the performance agreement
and a certification by each locality subject to a performance agreement and the
qualified company that the provisions of such agreement have been fulfilled
shall also be provided to the Secretary.

HISTORY: 2023, cc. 671, 678.