The Texas Senate has approved a bill that would expand the ability of school districts to grant property tax breaks in an effort to attract new jobs. The measure includes provisions that could help the Austin area lure more new projects, supporters say.

Among the changes that are relevant to Central Texas: Data centers would be eligible for the tax incentives, giving Austin another tool to compete for those projects; and the wage standard for the jobs created by companies applying for the tax breaks would be amended.

Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, was the Senate sponsor of House Bill 3676, which expands the Texas Economic Development Act to allow school districts to enter into tax-subsidy agreements with businesses and extends the act until 2015

Rep. Joe Heflin, D-Crosbyton, who co-authored the measure — which has passed in the House — said the bill "puts out the sign that says Texas is open for business."

In Central Texas, the law has helped attract projects such as Samsung Austin Semiconductor's second chip plant and a Home Depot research software project, said Drew Scheberle, senior vice president of education and talent development for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.

But some business leaders said the region had been hampered because the original law said that the jobs created had to pay at least 110 percent of the county's average manufacturing wage.

In the Austin area, that figure is almost $100,000 because it includes executive salaries at large companies.

An amendment to the new bill, authored by Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, says the jobs must pay at least 110 percent of either the county average manufacturing wage or the average wage for all jobs in the county if the project would create more than 1,000 jobs.

The new bill would more broadly define a county's geographic area, using boundaries as defined by the Council of Governments or a similar regional planning agency.

With the change, the wage target for Central Texas would be $55,000 a year, which can be reached, as contrasted with the nearly impossible to reach six-figure target, Strama said.

"The regional average manufacturing wage makes it easier for projects that recruit workers from the entire Central Texas region to locate in Travis County while still providing jobs at wages that are very attractive," he said.

Added Scheberle: "We will be able to attract good jobs."

He said that $60,000 a year is still a good-paying job.

Including data centers also could help Austin, which has lost out in competition for some of those projects in recent years, Scheberle and others say.

North Carolina recently changed its laws to attract a $1 billion data center that Apple Inc. reportedly wants to build in that state. With the change, the state could offer $300 million in tax breaks over the next 10 years.

The revised bill also would give the state comptroller more information to determine which projects qualify for the incentives and final say over which ones are eligible, Heflin said.

School districts would be required to submit copies of applications, agreements and any economic analyses to the comptroller.

Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, called the Texas Economic Development Act "a major bailout" and questioned why school districts should continue to subsidize businesses at the expense of students.

"This program has cost $376,000 for every job it has created," he said.

Heflin questioned Shapleigh's figure, saying it included two nuclear plants that were never built.

Heflin said that since 2003, the economic development act has helped bring more than

$53 billion in new business investment to Texas.

The measure was approved 25-6. Voting no in addition to Shapleigh were Sens. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen; Steve Ogden, R-Bryan; Dan Patrick, R-Houston; Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio; and Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio.