The N.C. House Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow speedier and greater disclosure of information about economic incentive deals the state makes with corporations.
The vote on two amended versions of Senate Bill 393 provoked lengthy debate among committee members. Some legislators said they were concerned that greater disclosure of the incentives would scare away companies that were being recruited by the N.C. Department of Commerce. Other lawmakers said opening the incentives process to brighter sunshine would allow legislators to make better decisions on the incentives packages proposed to entice companies, and would also boost the public’s confidence in government.
One amendment would have required the Commerce Department to disclose some available public records on an incentives package 15 days after the state or a local government announced that a business had made a final decision to expand or locate in the state. If the government was unable to produce all the public records within 15 days, the amendment would have required the agency to contact the person making the request for disclosure and provide a date by which the remaining records would be released.
The second amendment, which was approved unanimously, would require the government to release all records within 25 days of the corporate announcement. No delay in the release of any records would be allowed.
Mark Prak, lawyer for the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters and the North Carolina Press Association, told the committee that the state had been too slow to release information about incentive deals in the past. Information about packages the state offered to Boeing aircraft company and Dell computer, for example, wasn’t released until about 60 days after it was requested by Carolina Journal and other newspapers. Carolina Journal and the NCPA filed a lawsuit against the state for information about incentives offered to Dell. The lawsuit is still pending.
Don Hobart, lawyer for the Commerce Department, told the legislators that 15 days “is frequently sufficient time” for the state to release the records. The new requirement “would not put us in a non-competitive position” with other states also recruiting companies, he said.
Rep. Jennifer Weiss, D-Wake County, who sponsored the legislation in the House, said neither amendment would prevent a corporation from coming to North Carolina. “The Public Records Law is what it is,” she said. “Clients know beforehand what they’ll have to divulge. North Carolina would not be scaring them away.”
Rep. Margaret Dickson, D-Cumberland County, said it was important for the public to know that information about incentive packages was available. “I come from a media background…people need to know where their money is being spent,” she said. She said she is confident that Commerce Department officials could still protect confidential information as well as inform the public in a timely manner.
Weiss said the public was growing more concerned about the state’s corporate recruiting. “People want to know these deals are above-board,” she said.
The state can still sit on business announcements, Rep. Earl Jones, D-Guilford County, said. “The company and the Department of Commerce have complete control of the announcement” and can still delay the release of information, he said.
But Rep. William Current, Sr., R-Gaston County, said he was pleased with the final proposed amendment because it greatly strengthened the state’s Public Records Law. “I think this is one of the most important pieces of legislation we have passed in this state,” he said.
The bill now goes to the full House for consideration. The Senate had approved the legislation earlier. Senators would have to reconsider the House’s amendment.
Richard C. Wagner is editor of Carolina Journal.