H 5471

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 5471
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
A bill
TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION
13-1-1790 SO AS TO CREATE THE "SOUTH CAROLINA HEADQUARTERS RELOCATION AND
GROWTH FUND" TO PROVIDE GRANTS TO QUALIFYING BUSINESSES THAT ESTABLISH OR
EXPAND CERTAIN HEADQUARTERS IN THIS STATE.
Be it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1.  Article 11, Chapter 1, Title 13 of the S.C. Code is
amended by adding:
    Section
13-1-1790. (A) There is created the
"South Carolina Headquarters Relocation and Growth Fund (fund)." This fund is
separate and distinct from the general fund of the State and all other funds,
consisting of monies appropriated to the Coordinating Council for Economic Development
to provide grants to qualified businesses. Earnings on this fund must be
credited to it and any balance in this fund at the end of a fiscal year carries
forward in the fund in the succeeding fiscal year. The funds and assets of the
South Carolina Headquarters Relocation and Growth Fund are not funds of the
State but are instead held in trust. The monies placed into and accumulated in
the fund constitute the trust corpus, to be used only for the purposes outlined
in this section. The fund must receive and hold all monies allocated for it as
well as all earnings until disbursed as provided in this section. Monies
deposited in the South Carolina Headquarters Relocation and Growth Fund may not
revert to the general fund or be appropriated by the General Assembly for any
other purpose. If the South Carolina Headquarters Relocation and Growth Fund
program ceases for any reason, then the trustee shall deposit all remaining
amounts in the trust fund to a specific account separate from the general fund
designated by the General Assembly. The fund also may receive donations and
grants from public and private sources.
    (B)(1) The fund must be administered by
the Coordinating Council for Economic Development in coordination with the
Department of Commerce. Revenues credited to this fund must be used only by the
coordinating council to provide grants to a qualified business that establishes
or expands a corporate headquarters, a regional or divisional headquarters, or
a shared service or administrative center supporting multistate or global
operations.
       (2)
To qualify to receive a grant from the fund, a project must:
  (a)
create a minimum of fifty new full-time jobs within five years of project
initiation;
  (b)
pay an average wage equal to or greater than two hundred percent of the average
annual wage for the county in which the project is located;
  (c)
commit a minimum capital investment of ten million dollars in real property,
leasehold improvements, equipment, or relocation-related expenditures; and
  (d)
enter into a performance agreement with the coordinating council specifying job
creation milestones, wage requirements, and clawback provisions.
       (3)
Grants awarded from the fund may be used for:
  (a)
employee relocation and recruitment expenses;
  (b)
office construction, buildout, or tenant improvements;
  (c)
information technology, communications, or security infrastructure;
  (d)
customized workforce training programs including, but not limited to,
supplemental ReadySC activities;
  (e)
public infrastructure improvements directly supporting the project site, such
as roads, utilities, and broadband; and
  (f)
other purposes determined by the coordinating council to be directly related to
the establishment or expansion of a qualifying headquarters facility.
    (C)(1) Each grant recipient shall execute
a performance agreement with the coordinating council prior to disbursement of
funds, setting forth:
  (a)
job creation targets and schedules;
  (b)
minimum wage levels;
  (c)
investment commitments; and
  (d)
reporting obligations.
       (2)
All grants must include clawback provisions requiring proportional repayment of
funds if the company fails to meet agreed-upon performance metrics within the
specified time period.
    (D)(1) Nothing in this section precludes
a qualifying business from applying for or receiving benefits under existing
programs including, but not limited to, the Job Development Credit, Job Tax
Credit, Fee-in-Lieu of Tax (FILOT) agreements, or infrastructure grants
administered by the coordinating council.
       (2)
Awards from the fund may be combined with other incentives, provided that the
total package meets the coordinating council's cost-benefit and
return-on-investment criteria.
SECTION 2.  This act takes effect on July 1,
2026.
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This web page was last updated on March 31, 2026 at 02:58 PM