77-6546.

Terms, defined.

For purposes of the Grow the Good Life Act:

(1) Base year means the year immediately preceding the year during which the change in ownership and control occurred;

(2) Base-year employees means the number of equivalent employees employed by the taxpayer during the base year in Nebraska who (a) are paid wages at a rate equal to at least one hundred percent of the Nebraska statewide average hourly wage for the year of application and (b) receive a sufficient package of benefits as specified in the ImagiNE Nebraska Act;

(3) Change in ownership and control means a change in equity ownership of an employer within the state resulting from a merger or combination if the following requirements are met:

(a) The employer maintained its headquarters within the state for a period of at least ten years prior to the date of the merger or combination;

(b) Immediately prior to the date of the merger or combination, the employer employed more than three thousand full-time employees as defined in section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the regulations for such section, within the state;

(c) Immediately prior to the date of the merger or combination, the out-of-state company had an actual or implied enterprise value in excess of fifty billion dollars and the shareholders of the out-of-state company receive twenty percent or more of the ownership share value or voting equity of the new merged or combined entity as part of the transaction; and

(d) The merger or combination occurs between January 1, 2026, and December 31, 2028;

(4) Director means the Director of Economic Development;

(5) Earning period means the year of application plus the next nine years;

(6) Employer means a taxpayer that:

(a) Employs at least three thousand equivalent employees in Nebraska during the base year;

(b) Offers all full-time employees, as defined in section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the opportunity to enroll in minimum essential coverage under an eligible employer-sponsored plan, as those terms are defined and described in section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

(c) Offers all full-time employees, as defined in section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, a sufficient package of benefits as specified in the ImagiNE Nebraska Act;

(d) Enforces a company policy against any discrimination that is prohibited by federal or state law;

(e) Electronically verifies the work eligibility status of all new employees employed in Nebraska within ninety days after the date of hire during the earning period and the usage period;

(f) Has gone through a change in ownership and control prior to the application;

(g) Is a company within the state seeking to potentially retain, attract, or relocate employees to the state following a merger or combination described in subdivision (3) of this section;

(h) Retains at least ninety percent of its equivalent base-year employment; and

(i) Is a qualified business;

(7) Equivalent employees means the number of employees computed by dividing the total hours paid in a year by the product of forty times the number of weeks in a year. A salaried employee who receives a predetermined amount of compensation each pay period on a weekly or less frequent basis is deemed to have been paid for forty hours per week during the pay period;

(8) Nebraska statewide average hourly wage for any year means the most recent statewide average hourly wage paid by all employers in all counties in Nebraska as calculated by the Office of Labor Market Information of the Department of Labor using annual data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages by October 1 of the year prior to application. Hourly wages shall be calculated by dividing the reported average annual weekly wage by forty;

(9) Out-of-state company means a company that is not organized under the laws of this state;

(10) Qualified business means any business if the majority of the business activities conducted throughout Nebraska by such business meet the requirements for a qualified location as defined in subsection (1) or (2) of section 77-6818. For purposes of this subdivision, the majority of business activities conducted shall be determined based on the number of equivalent employees working in the respective business activities;

(11) Taxpayer means any person subject to sales and use taxes under the Nebraska Revenue Act of 1967 and subject to withholding under section 77-2753 and any entity that is or would otherwise be a member of the same unitary group, if incorporated, that is subject to such sales and use taxes and such withholding. Taxpayer does not include a political subdivision or an organization that is exempt from income taxes under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. For purposes of this subdivision, political subdivision includes any public corporation created for the benefit of a political subdivision and any group of political subdivisions forming a joint public agency, organized by interlocal agreement, or utilizing any other method of joint action;

(12) Usage period means a ten-year period beginning on January 1, 2031, during which credits earned in the earning period shall be claimed;

(13) Wage retention credit means the credit described in the Grow the Good Life Act; and

(14) Year means calendar year.