I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 244 

To prohibit the use of certain stimulus and disaster relief funds for business 

relocation incentives. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2011 

Mr. LATTA (for himself, Ms. JENKINS, and Mr. TURNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services 

and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To prohibit the use of certain stimulus and disaster relief 

funds for business relocation incentives. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Jobs in 

5 Your State Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF CERTAIN STIMULUS AND 

2 DISASTER RELIEF FUNDS FOR BUSINESS RE3 LOCATION INCENTIVES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State or a political subdivision 

5 of a State may not use any funds described in subsection 

6 (b) as an incentive for a business— 

7 (1) to relocate a plant, facility, or other oper8 ation, in whole or in part, from one State to an9 other; or 

10 (2) to expand such an operation in a State in 

11 a manner that will result in a reduction in such an 

12 operation in another State. 

13 (b) FUNDS DESCRIBED.—The funds described in this 

14 subsection are the following: 

15 (1) Funds made available under any of the fol16 lowing: 

17 (A) The American Recovery and Reinvest18 ment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5) or any 

19 amendment made by such Act. 

20 (B) The Hiring Incentives to Restore Em21 ployment Act (Public Law 111–147) or any 

22 amendment made by such Act. 

23 (C) Public Law 111–226 (relating to edu24 cation jobs and Medicaid payments to States) 

25 or any amendment made by such Public Law. 


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1 (D) The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 

2 (H.R. 5297, as enacted into law) or any amend3 ment made by such Act. 

4 (E) The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

5 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5211 

6 et seq.). 

7 (2) Funds for disaster relief administered by 

8 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

9 (c) ENFORCEMENT.— 

10 (1) PETITION.— 

11 (A) BY POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF STATE

12 TO GOVERNOR.—A political subdivision of a 

13 State may submit to the Governor of such State 

14 a petition stating that the political subdivision 

15 has been adversely affected by a violation of 

16 subsection (a) and requesting that the Governor 

17 submit to the Secretary of Commerce a petition 

18 for an investigation of whether a violation has 

19 occurred. 

20 (B) BY GOVERNOR TO SECRETARY OF

21 COMMERCE.—A Governor who receives a peti22 tion under subparagraph (A) may submit to the 

23 Secretary of Commerce a petition for an inves24 tigation of whether a violation of subsection (a) 

25 has occurred. 


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1 (2) INVESTIGATION BY SECRETARY OF COM2 MERCE.—Upon receiving a petition from a Governor 

3 under paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary of Commerce 

4 shall conduct an investigation to determine whether 

5 a violation of subsection (a) has occurred. 

6 (3) RESULTS OF INVESTIGATION; REFERRAL TO

7 SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.—If the Secretary of 

8 Commerce determines under paragraph (2) that a 

9 violation of subsection (a) has occurred, the State 

10 that committed the violation (or in the case of a vio11 lation by a political subdivision of a State, the State 

12 of which such political subdivision is a part) shall be 

13 liable to the United States for the amount of funds 

14 used in violation of such subsection. The Secretary 

15 of Commerce shall inform the Secretary of the 

16 Treasury that the United States has a claim against 

17 such State. 

18 (4) COLLECTION BY SECRETARY OF THE

19 TREASURY.—If the Secretary of the Treasury is in20 formed under paragraph (3) that the United States 

21 has a claim against a State, the Secretary shall take 

22 such action as is necessary to collect on such claim. 

23 (5) PROHIBITION ON RECEIPT OF CERTAIN

24 FUNDS UNTIL REPAYMENT MADE.—A State that is 

25 determined to be liable to the United States under 


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1 paragraph (3) shall not receive any funds described 

2 in subsection (b) during the period beginning on the 

3 date of the determination of liability and ending on 

4 the date on which the State fully repays to the 

5 United States the amount of funds used in violation 

6 of subsection (a). 

7 (6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

8 subsection shall be construed to limit the authority 

9 or responsibility of any other Federal official to en10 force subsection (a) under other Federal law. 

11 (d) GAO REPORT.—Biannually during the 5-year pe12 riod that ends on the date that is 5 years after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 

14 the United States shall submit to the Committee on En15 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and 

16 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

17 of the Senate a report on the impact of the preceding pro18 visions of this section. Such a report shall include, for the 

19 period covered by the report— 

20 (1) a statement of the number of petitions re21 ceived by the Secretary of Commerce under sub22 section (c)(1)(B) and a summary of the disposition 

23 of such petitions, including a list of the instances in 

24 which the Secretary found violations of subsection 

25 (a); 


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1 (2) a list of any claims of the United States de2 scribed in subsection (c)(3) that arose, were out3 standing, or were collected in whole or in part; and 

4 (3) a list of any funds that were withheld under 

5 subsection (c)(5). 

6 (e) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

7 ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common8 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the United States Virgin 

9 Islands, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the 

10 Northern Mariana Islands. 

11 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 

12 respect to funds obligated by a State or a political subdivi13 sion of a State after the date of the enactment of this 

14 Act. 

Æ 


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