Legislation forging “a more welcoming environment” for new companies to come to Bermuda, and for business leaders to live on the Island, has been approved by MPs.The Incentives for Job Makers Act 2013 got a spirited defence from Premier Craig Cannonier, who attacked suggestions that the bill was about “getting white people in here”.However, the Act ran a gauntlet of criticism from Opposition MPs — many of whom questioned the logic of chopping the fee for job makers to apply for a Permanent Residency Certificate (PRC) from $120,000 to $25,000.Presenting the bill, Economic Development Minister Grant Gibbons said its 2011 predecessor had not proved “attractive enough to be effective” in offering work permit waivers and the granting of permanent residency for those deemed job makers.Many industry leaders had found it “inadequate and a disappointment”, Dr Gibbons said.The new bill brings the date for those eligible to apply for a PRC from the “frustrating” date of January 1, 2015, to the present.And he said the current fee of $120,000 for a PRC application by an eligible candidate was 100 times above the normal charge of $1,100.“The vast chasm between the two fees has not been well received, given the enormous contribution made to Bermuda,” Dr Gibbons added.The Bill further allows those eligible to apply for a PRC to apply simultaneously for exemption from a work permit.It cuts from 25 to ten the minimum number of Bermudian staff required to be employed by a company for it to seek exemptions.And the Act would remove a limit of five exemptions allowed for eligible companies.The new number of exemptions would be “proportional”, Dr Gibbons said, and determined by guidelines.Leading the Opposition charge on the $25,000 fee as “exorbitantly low” was Shadow Home Affairs Minister Walter Roban.“What price Bermuda?” Mr Roban asked. “What price the opportunity and privilege to have a permanent position in this country?”He added: “Do we have such a low opinion of ourselves?”Also declaring himself “uncomfortable” with the fee, Independent MP Terry Lister told the House it wasn’t uncommon to see “beautiful jeeps” worth $60,000 driven by the spouses of those who would qualify under the Act.“I’m going to suggest that we make our birthright worth the jeep,” Mr Lister said — proposing an amendment to the Act raising the PRC fee to $60,000.“I think it will at least go some ways towards raising a few more dollars, but also to saying this is of value,” Mr Lister added.As MPs prepared to vote, Dr Gibbons told the House: “This is not about affordability.”Organisations representing international business had sent “a very clear indication” that “$120,000 was considered to be much too high”, he said.Put to a vote, Mr Lister’s amendment failed to pass, and legislators approved the bill shortly before 3am on Saturday.