HB2479: Cloud Computing Cluster Infrastructure Grant Fund; created.

Legislative Summary

Data centers and cloud computing; sales tax exemption; grant fund. Creates the Cloud Computing Cluster Infrastructure Grant Fund for the purpose of providing grants to qualified companies, defined in the bill as a company, including its affiliates, that enters into a memorandum of understanding with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority and is expected to (i) make or cause to be made a capital investment 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 average wage in the locality where the job is located. The bill requires that, in order to become a qualified company, a company successfully complete a qualification process that includes an endorsement from the MEI Commission and approval in the appropriation act for the amount of grants that are to be provided. Data centers and cloud computing; sales tax exemption; grant fund. Creates the Cloud Computing Cluster Infrastructure Grant Fund for the purpose of providing grants to qualified companies, defined in the bill as a company, including its affiliates, that enters into a memorandum of understanding with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority and is expected to (i) make or cause to be made a capital investment 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 average wage in the locality where the job is located. The bill requires that, in order to become a qualified company, a company successfully complete a qualification process that includes an endorsement from the MEI Commission and approval in the appropriation act for the amount of grants that are to be provided. The bill also extends the data center sales and use tax exemption to 2040 for a data center operator that (a) makes a capital investment of at least $35 billion in data centers in the Commonwealth and (b) creates at least 1,000 direct new jobs, of which at least 100 of such jobs pay at least one and one-half times the prevailing average wage in the Commonwealth. Such data center operator shall be eligible for further extension of the sales and use tax exemption to 2050 if the data center operator (1) makes a total capital investment of at least $100 billion, inclusive of the initial $35 billion investment, and (2) creates a total of at least 2,500 direct new jobs, of which at least 100 of such jobs pay at least one and one-half times the prevailing average wage in the Commonwealth, inclusive of the 1,000 jobs initially created.