Personal Income Tax Law: credit: nurses., the official text

An act to add and repeal Section 17052.8 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to taxation, to take effect immediately, tax levy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law.
This bill would allow a credit against those taxes to a licensed nurse employed at a rural health facility, as specified, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2032, in an amount equal to $2,000 per taxpayer per taxable year. The bill would require the Department of Health Care Access and Information to provide an annual list to the Franchise Tax Board of rural health facilities, as specified.
Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure, as defined, to include tax credits, to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements.
This bill would include findings and reporting requirements in compliance with this requirement.
This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 17052.8 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:
17052.8.
(a) For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2032, there shall be allowed as a credit against the “net tax,” as defined in Section 17039, to a qualified taxpayer an amount equal to two thousand dollars ($2,000) per taxpayer per taxable year.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following shall apply:
(1) “Direct patient care” means hands-on patient care provided directly by an individual.
(2) “Full-time basis” means either of the following:
(A) For an employee paid an hourly wage, the employee is employed a minimum of 1,750 hours during the taxable year.
(B) For an employee paid a salary, the employee is employed a minimum of 50 weeks during the taxable year.
(3) (A) “Nursing administration” means either of the following:
(i) Oversight or managerial responsibilities over nursing units or entire nursing departments, including, but not limited to, staffing, policy implementation, and quality assurance oversight.
(ii) The employment position involves minimal or no direct patient care.
(B) “Nursing administration” does not mean having minimal or infrequent supervisory duties over subordinate staff.
(4) “Primarily” means 51 percent or more of the employment position’s responsibilities.
(5) “Qualified taxpayer” means a taxpayer who meets all of the following criteria:
(A) They are licensed pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 2700) or Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 2840) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code.
(B) They were employed on a full-time basis at a rural health facility in a position for which a license described in subparagraph (A) is required.
(C) Their employment position is not primarily for nursing administration.
(6) “Rural health facility” means a rural hospital defined as having a “rural” or “frontier” designation status in the Medical Service Study Area created by the Department of Health Care Access and Information or as set forth in Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) In the case where the credit allowed by this section exceeds the “net tax,” the excess may be carried over to reduce the “net tax” in the following year, and for the five succeeding years if necessary, until the credit has been exhausted.
(d) The Department of Health Care Access and Information shall provide an annual list of rural health facilities to the Franchise Tax Board on or before January 15, 2028, and each January 15 thereafter. The list shall include rural health facilities that met the definition set forth in paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) for the duration of the prior calendar year.
(e) For purposes of complying with Section 41, the Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) The goals, purposes, and objectives of the tax credit allowed by this section include the following:
(A) To increase recruitment and long-term retention of licensed nurses in rural and frontier California, stabilize staffing in rural health care facilities, and improve access to care in rural medical service study areas and health professional shortage areas.
(B) To address chronic rural health care workforce shortages through direct financial incentives, improve workforce stability in rural hospitals, clinics, and health centers, and to reduce service disruptions caused by staffing shortages.
(C) To increase the number of nurses practicing in qualifying rural facilities, reduce vacancy and turnover rates, increase the average length of rural employment, and improve continuity of patient care.
(2) The performance indicators for the Legislature to use in determining whether the credit achieves the stated objective include the following:
(A) Workforce metrics, including the number of licensed nurses, vacancy and turnover rates, average tenure, and time to fill vacancies.
(B) Facility metrics, including staffing levels, patient-to-nurse ratios, and service continuity.
(C) Patient access metrics, including care delays, emergency diversion incidents, and readmission rates.
(3) (A) No later than June 30, 2029, and each June 30 thereafter, the Department of Health Care Access and Information, in collaboration with the Franchise Tax Board, shall submit a report to the Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, and to the extent feasible, containing the data described in paragraph (2) and the number of taxpayers that claimed the tax credit pursuant to this section for the most recent taxable year.
(B) The disclosure provisions of this paragraph shall be treated as an exception to Section 19542.
(f) This section shall remain in effect only until December 1, 2032, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 2.
This act provides for a tax levy within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect.