Agency to air state incentives

Bill withdrawn after development commission’s pledge

The Arkansas Economic Development Commission has agreed to voluntarily share information about state business incentives.

The move came after Rep. Warwick Sabin, D-Little Rock, filed a bill requiring the commission to publish the reports. Sabin withdrew House Bill 2030 on Friday in exchange for Executive Director Mike Preston's promise that the bill's goals would be carried out.

"I said that as long as they were 100 percent committed to doing everything in the bill and that they would make that commitment publicly, that I would be fine with withdrawing the bill," Sabin said.

The commission will publish on its website the cost to the state, number of jobs, hourly wage, investment by the business, cost-to-benefit ratio, claw-back provisions, how audits will be conducted, tax credits and other information for individual incentive projects.

Sabin said the deadlines in his bill were quicker than what the Economic Development Commission could accomplish without hiring outside help. Also, some companies that receive payments from Arkansas do not want their hourly wages published, he said.

Preston, who came to Arkansas from Enterprise Florida, had presided over a similar transparency project while in the Sunshine State, Sabin said.

Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, confirmed the agreement. He said the commission's reports will be provided for every company that signs an incentive agreement with the commission. Companies will not be allowed to opt out.

Incentive spending reports will assist those interested in knowing more about how state incentive dollars are spent.

Residents can file Freedom of Information Act requests to get some information about state incentive payments, but companies may object to their information being released under a state exemption under the act.

The exemption is: "Files that, if disclosed would give advantage to competitors or bidders and records maintained by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission related to any business entity's planning, site location, expansion, operations, or product development and marketing, unless approval for release of such records is granted by the business entity."

For example, when a reporter asked the Department of Finance and Administration in 2015 for records relating to state incentive payments to Lockheed Martin, the request was denied because the company said the information could provide an advantage to competitors.

Under Amendment 82 to the Arkansas Constitution, the Legislature approved a bond issue of $87.1 million for Lockheed Martin to help the company land a federal project. The company had received other incentive payments, but the department didn't release information about how much.

Also, the Department of Finance and Administration said it has rules so that requests for the information are limited to information reported during the 36 months preceding the date of the request.

A Section on 03/18/2017

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