SENATE BILL 414

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013

INTRODUCED BY

Michael Padilla

AN ACT

RELATING TO CALL CENTERS; REQUIRING CERTAIN CALL CENTERS THAT RELOCATE TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY TO NOTIFY THE WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS DEPARTMENT; REQUIRING THE SECRETARY OF WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS TO COMPILE A REPORT OF CALL CENTERS THAT RELOCATE TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY; PROHIBITING STATE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR FIVE YEARS TO A CALL CENTER THAT RELOCATES TO A FOREIGN COUNTY; REQUIRING A CALL CENTER THAT RELOCATES TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY TO REMIT FINANCIAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY THE STATE; PROVIDING AN EXCEPTION; REQUIRING THAT CALL CENTER-RELATED SERVICES PROVIDED TO THE STATE BE PERFORMED BY STATE-CONTRACTED CALL CENTERS; PROVIDING A PENALTY.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. NOTIFICATION OF RELOCATION OF CALL CENTER TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY REQUIRED--PENALTY FOR VIOLATION--LIST OF RELOCATED CALL CENTERS--RELOCATED CALL CENTERS INELIGIBLE FOR STATE FINANCIAL BENEFITS--REMITTANCE OF STATE FINANCIAL SUPPORT--PROCUREMENT OF CALL CENTER SERVICES TO BE WITH CONTRACTORS LOCATED IN THE STATE.--

          A. A call center that relocates from the state to a foreign country, or transfers a facility or operating unit composed of at least thirty percent of the call center's total operational volume of telephone or electronic communications when measured against the previous twelve-month average of the call center's operational volume from the state to a foreign country, shall notify the secretary at least one hundred twenty days prior to the relocation or transfer.

          B. A call center that violates the notification requirement pursuant to Subsection A of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each day that the call center fails to provide the notification.

          C. The secretary shall compile and maintain a report of call centers required to provide notification pursuant to Subsection A of this section. The call center shall remain on the report for a period not to exceed five years of the relocation or transfer. The secretary shall update the report and distribute the list to all state agencies at least on a semiannual basis. Except as provided in Subsection D of this section, during the period of time a call center is listed in the report, the call center shall:

                (1) not be eligible to receive direct or indirect financial support from the state, including grants, guaranteed loans, tax benefits or other financial support provided by the state; and

                (2) remit to the appropriate state agency the unamortized value of any direct or indirect grant, guaranteed loan, tax benefit or other financial support provided by the state agency.

          D. A call center shall not be subject to the provisions of Subsection C of this section if the secretary, in consultation with the appropriate state agency providing the financial support, finds that the lack of financial support to the call center would result in a substantial loss of jobs in the state.

          E. The provisions of Subsections A through D of this section apply to a call center that accepts a direct or indirect grant, guaranteed loan, tax benefit or other state financial support beginning on or after July 1, 2013.

          F. Beginning on July 1, 2015, if a state agency contracts for services with a call center to provide customer service for state-related business, the customer service shall be performed by a contractor, or a contractor's agent or subcontractor, that is located entirely within the state; provided that, after July 1, 2013, if a contractor, or the contractor's agent or subcontractor, is located in the state and hires an employee to perform customer service for state- related business, that employee shall be employed in the state.

          G. The workforce solutions department shall promulgate rules to implement this section.

          H. Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair a contract that is in force on the effective date of this section.

          I. As used in this section:

                (1) "call center" means a business that accepts and processes telephone or electronic communications for the purpose of providing customer service and that employs:

                     (a) fifty or more full-time employees; or

                     (b) fifty or more employees who work at least one thousand five hundred hours per week in the aggregate, not including hours an employee may work that exceed forty hours per week;

                (2) "secretary" means the secretary of workforce solutions; and

                (3) "state agency" means the state of New Mexico or any of its branches, agencies, departments, boards, instrumentalities or institutions.

     SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2013.