Chapter 490
2013 -- H 6071 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/16/13
A N A C T
RELATING TO
STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND COMMERCE CORPORATION
Introduced By: Representatives Ucci, Craven, Canario, O'Brien, and Azzinaro
Date Introduced: May 01, 2013
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Legislative findings. - The general assembly hereby finds and declares
the
following:
(1)
While institutions and methods which have been employed by the state in the
past to
create and foster
economic development have experienced some degree of success, a new and
revised approach led by
the creation of new entities will provide greater state oversight and
governance and will promote
a more dramatic and sustained long-term growth for the state.
(2)
The creation of a
oversight and
governance, while still allowing for the existence of a separate
commerce corporation
that will have the flexibility to address, adapt, and adjust to changing
economic conditions.
This will also create an increased level of transparency and accountability
to the state.
(3)
That the geographic size and population of
impediment to economic
growth, are potential assets, not a handicap, to economic development,
in that they can lead to
a more unified branding approach to marketing the state, its people, its
businesses, and its
products, and that these assets have not been utilized to their fullest
potential
by previous business
models employed by the state.
(4)
That the above reflects a shift in business cultivation in the state, and such
shift can
best be accomplished through
new leadership provided through new entities that seek to foster
and develop a
public-private sector partnership that takes advantage of
(5)
That a key element to long-term growth is long-term planning with specific,
measurable goals and
accountability for such goals. As such, a key component of this plan shall
be to require the use of
four (4) year plans or periods to measure economic growth and
development, with
evaluation on an annual basis and significant re-evaluation on a four (4) year
basis.
(6)
That another key component to such growth is the appointment of a secretary of
commerce to lead this
new economic initiative and coordinate the new entities to be created.
(7)
To such ends, the general assembly shall create a new "
corporation," a new
"executive office
of commerce" to be led by a new appointed state officer to be known as the
"secretary of
commerce."
SECTION
2. The title of Chapter 42-64 of the General Laws entitled "
Economic Development
Corporation" is hereby amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER
42-64
Rhode Economic Development
Commerce Corporation
CHAPTER
42-64
RHODE
ISLAND COMMERCE CORPORATION
SECTION
3. Sections 42-64-1, 42-64-1.1, 42-64-2, 42-64-3, 42-64-4, 42-64-5, 42-64-6,
42-64-7, 42-64-7.1,
42-64-7.4, 42-64-7.5, 42-64-7.6, 42-64-7.7, 42-64-7.8, 42-64-7.9, 42-64-7.11,
42-64-7.13, 42-64-8,
42-64-8.1, 42-64-9, 42-64-9.1, 42-64-9.2, 42-64-9.4, 42-64-9.5, 42-64-9.6,
42-64-9.7, 42-64-9.9,
42-64-9.10, 42-64-10, 42-64-11, 42-64-12, 42-64-13, 42-64-13.1, 42-64-
13.2, 42-64-14, 42-64-15,
42-64-16, 42-64-17, 42-64-18, 42-64-19, 42-64-20, 42-64-21, 42-64-
22, 42-64-23, 42-64-25,
42-64-26, 42-64-27, 42-64-28, 42-64-29, 42-64-31, and 42-64-34, of the
General Laws in Chapter
42-64 entitled "Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation" are
hereby amended to read as
follows:
42-64-1. Short title.
-- This chapter shall be known as "The Rhode Island economic
development commerce
corporation Act".
42-64-1.1. Change
of name. -- (a) Whenever in any general or public law, reference is
made to the "department of economic
development" or the "
economic development corporation", the
reference shall be deemed to refer to and mean or the
"which
may also be referred to as the
"economic development corporation". , the reference shall be deemed to refer to and
mean the
"Rhode Island commerce corporation," which
may also be referred to as the "commerce
corporation."
(b) Whenever in any
general or public law, reference is made to the "director of the
department of economic development" or the
"executive director of the
authority and economic development corporation",
the reference shall be deemed to refer to and
mean the "executive director of the
appointment of a secretary of commerce; whenever in
any general or public law, reference is
made to the "director of the department of
economic development" or the "executive director of
the
of the
and mean the chief executive officer of the
be the secretary of the
(c) Whenever in any
general or public law, reference is made to the "economic
development council", the reference shall be
deemed to refer to and mean the "board of directors
of the economic development commerce
corporation".
(d) Nothing in this
act shall be construed to change or modify any contracts or
agreements of any kind by, for, between, or to which
the economic development corporation is a
party. All said contracts and agreements of whatsoever
kind are hereby assigned, transferred to,
and assumed by the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation.
42-64-2.
Legislative findings. -- (a) It is found and declared that there exists
in our state
a condition of substantial and persistent unemployment
and underemployment which causes
hardship to many individuals and families, wastes
vital human resources, increases the public
assistance burdens of the state, impairs the security
of family life, contributes to crime and
delinquency, prevents many of our youths from
continuing their education, impedes the economic
and physical development of municipalities and
adversely affects the welfare and prosperity of
our state; that many existing industrial,
manufacturing, recreational and commercial facilities in
our state are obsolete and inefficient, and
dilapidated; that many of these facilities are under-
utilized or in the process of being vacated, creating
additional unemployment; that technological
advances and the provision of modern and efficient
industrial, manufacturing, recreational and
commercial facilities in other states will speed the
obsolescence and abandonment of existing
facilities, causing serious injuries to the economy of
our state; that the drastic curtailment of
federal military installations in our state presently
being undertaken and the announcement by the
families presently on duty in this state has and will
further result in an additional loss of
employment and aggravate the overall unemployment
conditions of the state; that new industrial,
manufacturing, recreational, and commercial facilities
are required to attract and house new
industries and thereby reduce the hazards of
unemployment; that unaided efforts of private
enterprises have not met and cannot meet the needs of
providing those facilities due to problems
encountered in assembling suitable building sites,
lack of adequate public service, unavailability
of private capital for development, and the inability
of private enterprise alone to plan, finance
and coordinate industrial, recreational, and
commercial development; that the economic
insecurity attendant to chronic and new unemployment
and the absence of new employment
opportunities constitutes a serious menace for the
safety, morals, and general welfare of the
people of our state.
(b) It is further found
and declared that the decision of the
close certain military facilities located within the
state (including those located in the towns of
North Kingstown,
dispose of the property comprising those facilities will,
because many residents of the state were
employed by the
employment and underemployment mentioned above. The
authorized and intends to make available to the state
or to an instrumentality thereof, the property
to be disposed of and by virtue of the provisions of
Public Laws 1939, chapter 696, certain land in
the town of
government of the naval base located there. With
comprehensive planning and adequate
financing, the property can be converted to
industrial, manufacturing, recreational, and
commercial uses which will promote a healthy and
growing economy, thereby encouraging new
industries and commercial enterprises to locate in the
state, enabling existing industries and
commercial enterprises to remain and expand, and
alleviating the condition of unemployment and
underemployment that now exists.
(c) It is further found
and declared that notwithstanding the decision of the
government to dispose of the property mentioned above,
there will continue to be a shortage of
property in the state for industrial, manufacturing,
recreational, and commercial development.
The expansion of the economy, while increasing the
need for that property, will continually
diminish the supply of that property. Private
enterprise has encountered difficulty in providing
new industrial, manufacturing, recreational, and
commercial facilities in economically strategic
areas of the state, because of the problems in
assembling tracts of property suitable for those
purposes and the cost of providing adequate public
services to serve the development.
(d) It is further found
and declared that the acquisition and development of property for
industrial, manufacturing, recreational, and
commercial purposes (including the property to be
disposed of by the
provisions of Public Laws 1939, chapter 696) and the
disposition thereof, must be undertaken on
a comprehensive statewide basis so as to assure that
new industrial, manufacturing, recreational,
and commercial sites are adequately served by
appropriate transportation facilities and public
services and that those sites are located in any
manner as to provide for the orderly economic
growth and development of the state, while at the same
time conserving the environment. Local
planning and development agencies and institutions are
insufficient to provide for that
comprehensive statewide planning and development.
(e) It is further found
and declared that the appropriate development of the property to be
disposed of by the
Public Laws 1939, chapter 696 will require development
not only for industrial and commercial
purposes but also for transportation, residential,
recreational, utility, institutional, civic, and
community purposes.
(f) It is further found
and declared that there exists in the state blighted or substandard
areas, or areas which are becoming blighted and
substandard, including obsolete and dilapidated
buildings and structures, defective construction,
outmoded and obsolete design, lack of proper
sanitary facilities, or adequate fire and safety
protection, excessive land coverage, insufficient
light and ventilation, illegal uses and conversions, inadequate
maintenance, buildings abandoned
or not utilized in whole or in part, obsolete systems
of utilities, poorly or improperly designed
street patterns and intersections, inadequate access
to areas, inadequate transportation facilities,
all of which hamper or impede proper and economic
growth of the area as well as the state as a
whole.
(g) It is further found
and declared to be the public policy of the state to encourage the
expansion and development of the state's harbors and
ports; to foster and improve the handling of
waterborne commerce from and to any port of this state
and other states and foreign counties; to
seek to effect consolidation of the ports of this
state and to promote a spirit of cooperation among
these ports in the interest of the state as a whole;
to initiate and further plan for the development
of the ports of this state and to keep informed as to
the present and future requirements and needs
of the ports of this state; also to furnish proper and
adequate airport facilities within this state and
to encourage the integration of these facilities so
far as practicable.
(h) In the furtherance
of these goals, it is the policy of the state to retain existing
industries and to induce, encourage, and attract new
industries through the acquisition,
construction, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of
industrial, manufacturing, recreational, and
commercial facilities, as well as transportation,
residential, environmental, utility, public service,
institutional, and civic and community facilities, and
to develop sites for those facilities.
(i)
It is declared to be the policy of the state to promote a vigorous and growing
economy, to prevent economic stagnation, and to
encourage the creation of new job opportunities
in order to ameliorate the hazards of unemployment and
underemployment, reduce the level of
public assistance, increase revenues to the state and
its municipalities, and to achieve a stable
diversified economy.
(j) The purpose of this
chapter is to create the economic development
commerce
corporation having an existence separate and apart from the state, with the
power and
authority to acquire and develop property within the
state and to provide financing for the
purposes set forth above in this chapter.
42-64-3.
Definitions. -- As used in this chapter, the following words and terms
shall have
the following meanings, unless the context indicates
another or different meaning or intent:
(1)
"Administrative penalty" means a monetary penalty not to exceed the
civil penalty
specified in section 42-64-9.2 of this chapter.
(2) "Airport
facility" means developments consisting of runways, hangars, control
towers, ramps, wharves, bulkheads, buildings,
structures, parking areas, improvements, facilities,
or other real or personal property necessary,
convenient, or desirable for the landing, taking off,
accommodation, and servicing of aircraft of all types,
operated by carriers engaged in the
transportation of passengers or cargo, or for the
loading, unloading, interchange, or transfer of the
passengers or their baggage, or the cargo, or
otherwise for the accommodation, use or
convenience of the passengers or the carriers or their
employees (including related facilities and
accommodations at sites removed from landing fields
and other landing areas), or for the landing,
taking off, accommodation, and servicing of aircraft
owned or operated by persons other than
carriers. It also means facilities providing access to
an airport facility, consisting of rail, rapid
transit, or other forms of mass transportation which
furnish a connection between the air terminal
and other points within the state, including
appropriate mass transportation terminal facilities at
and within the air terminal itself and suitable
offsite facilities for the accommodation of air
passengers, baggage, mail, express, freight, and other
users of the connecting facility.
(3) "BOCA
code" means the BOCA basic building code published by building officials
& code administrators international, inc., as the
code may from time to time be promulgated by
the building officials & code administrators
international, inc.
(4) "Bonds"
and "notes" means the bonds, notes, securities, or other obligations
or
evidences of indebtedness issued by the corporation
pursuant to this chapter, all of which shall be
issued under the name of and known as obligations of
the "economic development
commerce
corporation."
(5) "Civic
facility" means any real or personal property designed and intended for
the
purpose of providing facilities for educational,
cultural, community, or other civic purposes.
(6) "Compliance
schedule" means a schedule of remedial measures including an
enforceable sequence of actions or operations leading
to compliance with an effluent limitation or
any other limitation, prohibition or standard.
(7)
"Corporation," "port authority", or "authority"
means the governmental agency and
public instrumentality, formerly known as the "
development corporation" and/or renamed
also formerly known as the "
development corporation," and now known as the
authorized, created, and established pursuant to
section 42-64-4, or any subsidiary corporation
thereof which is established pursuant to section
42-64-7.1.
(8)
"Director" means the executive director of the economic development
corporation
until such time that the secretary of commerce is
appointed. Upon the appointment of a secretary
of commerce, "Director" means the chief
executive officer of the
corporation, who shall also be the secretary of the
(9) "Federal
land" means real property within the state, now acquired or hereafter
acquired by the economic development commerce
corporation which was formerly
owned by the
without limiting the generality of the foregoing, any
and all real property now or formerly owned
or used by the
purposes related to the national defense. Without
limiting the generality of the foregoing, federal
land shall also mean and include certain land in the
town of
thereof, which has or shall revert to the state
pursuant to the provisions of Public Laws 1939,
chapter 696 and is now or hereafter acquired by the
corporation from the state.
(10) "Industrial
facility" means any real or personal property, the demolition, removal,
relocation, acquisition, expansion, modification,
alteration, or improvement of existing buildings,
structures, or facilities, the construction of new
buildings, structures, or facilities, the
replacement, acquisition, modification, or renovation
of existing machinery and equipment, or the
acquisition of new machinery and equipment, or any
combination of the
shall be suitable for manufacturing, research,
production, processing, agriculture, and marine
commerce, or warehousing; or convention centers, trade
centers, exhibition centers, or offices
(including offices for the government of the
bureau, corporation, or other instrumentality of the
agency, or for any municipality); or facilities for
other industrial, commercial or business
purposes of every type and description; and facilities
appurtenant or incidental to the foregoing,
including headquarters or office facilities, whether
or not at the location of the remainder of the
facility, warehouses, distribution centers, access
roads, sidewalks, utilities, railway sidings,
trucking, and similar facilities, parking areas,
waterways, dockage, wharfage, and other
improvements necessary or convenient for the
construction, development, maintenance, and
operation of those facilities.
(11) "Local
governing body" means any town or city council, commission, or other
elective governing body now or hereafter vested by
state statute, charter, or other law, with
jurisdiction to initiate and adopt local ordinances,
whether or not these local ordinances require
the approval of the elected or appointed chief
executive officer or other official or body to
become effective.
(12) "Local
redevelopment corporation" means any agency or corporation created and
existing pursuant to the provisions of chapter 31 of
title 45.
(13)
"Municipality" means any city or town within the state now existing
or hereafter
created, or any state agency.
(14) "Parent
corporation" means, when used in connection with a subsidiary corporation
established pursuant to section 42-64-7.1, the
governmental agency and public instrumentality
created and established pursuant to section 42-64-4.
(15) "Personal
property" means all tangible personal property, new or used, including,
without limiting the generality of the foregoing, all
machinery, equipment, transportation
equipment, ships, aircraft, railroad rolling stock,
locomotives, pipelines, and all other things and
rights usually included within that term.
"Personal property" also means and includes any and all
interests in the property which are less than full
title, such as leasehold interests, security
interests, and every other interest or right, legal or
equitable.
(16)
"Pollutant" means any material or effluent which may alter the
chemical, physical,
biological or radiological characteristics or
integrity of water, including but not limited to,
dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue,
sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions,
chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive
materials, heat, wrecked or discarded
equipment, cellar dirt, or industrial, municipal, agricultural
or other waste petroleum or petroleum
products, including, but not limited to, oil.
(17)
"Pollution" means the discharge of any gaseous, liquid, or solid
substance or
combination thereof (including noise) into the air,
water, or land which affects the physical,
chemical, or biological properties (including
temperature) of the air, water, or land in a manner or
to an extent which renders or is likely to render the
air, water, or land harmful or inimical to the
public health, safety, or welfare, or to animal, bird,
or aquatic life, or to the use of the air or water
for domestic, industrial, or agricultural purposes or
recreation including the man-made or man-
induced alteration of the chemical, physical,
biological or radiological integrity of water.
(18) "Pollution
control facility" means any land or interest in land, the demolition,
removal, relocation, acquisition, expansion,
modification, alteration, or improvement of existing
buildings, structures, or facilities, the construction
of new buildings, structures, or facilities, the
replacement, modification, or renovation of existing
machinery and equipment, or the acquisition
of new machinery and equipment, or any combination
thereof, having to do with or the purpose
of which is the abatement, control, or prevention of
pollution, including industrial pollution, and
all real and personal property incidental to that
facility.
(19) "Port
facility" means harbors, ports, and all real and personal property used in
connection therewith, including, but not limited to,
waterways, channels, wharves, docks, yards,
bulkheads, slips, basins, pipelines, ships, boats,
railroads, trucks, and other motor vehicles,
aircraft, parking areas, shipyards, piers, quays,
elevators, compressors, loading and unloading
facilities, storage facilities, and warehouses of
every type, buildings and facilities used in the
manufacturing, processing, assembling, storing, or
handling of any produce or products, other
structures and facilities necessary for the convenient
use of the harbors and seaports, including
dredged approaches, railways, railroad terminals, side
tracks, airports, roads, highways, tunnels,
viaducts, bridges, and other approaches, useful in
connection therewith, and any other shipping or
transportation facility useful in the operation of a
port or harbor.
(20)
"Project" or "port project" means the acquisition,
ownership, operation,
construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation,
improvement, development, sale, lease, or other
disposition of, or the provision of financing for, any
real or personal property (by whomever
owned) or any interests in real or personal property,
including without limiting the generality of
the foregoing, any port facility, recreational facility,
industrial facility, airport facility, pollution
control facility, utility facility, solid waste
disposal facility, civic facility, residential facility,
water supply facility, energy facility or renewable
energy facility, or any other facility, or any
combination of two (2) or more of the foregoing, or
any other activity undertaken by the
corporation.
(21) "Project
cost" means the sum total of all costs incurred by the
economic development commerce corporation in carrying out all works and
undertakings, which
the corporation deems reasonable and necessary for the
development of a project. These shall
include, but are not necessarily limited to, the costs
of all necessary studies, surveys, plans, and
specifications, architectural, engineering, or other
special services, acquisition of land and any
buildings on the land, site preparation and
development, construction, reconstruction,
rehabilitation, improvement, and the acquisition of
any machinery and equipment or other
personal property as may be deemed necessary in
connection with the project (other than raw
materials, work in process, or stock in trade); the
necessary expenses incurred in connection with
the initial occupancy of the project; an allocable
portion of the administrative and operating
expenses of the corporation; the cost of financing the
project, including interest on all bonds and
notes issued by the corporation to finance the project
from the date thereof to one year from the
date when the corporation shall deem the project
substantially occupied; and the cost of those
other items, including any indemnity or surety bonds
and premiums on insurance, legal fees, real
estate brokers and agent fees, fees and expenses of
trustees, depositories, and paying agent for
bonds and notes issued by the economic development commerce
corporation,
including reimbursement to any project user for any
expenditures as may be allowed by the
corporation (as would be costs of the project under
this section had they been made directly by
the corporation), and relocation costs, all as the
corporation shall deem necessary.
(22) "Project
user" means the person, company, corporation, partnership, or commercial
entity, municipality, state, or
a port project.
(23) "Real
property" means lands, structures (new or used), franchises, and interests
in
land, including lands under water, and riparian rights,
space rights, and air rights, and all other
things and rights usually included within the term.
"Real property" shall also mean and include
any and all interests in that property less than fee
simple, such as easements, incorporeal
hereditaments, and every estate, interest or right, legal or
equitable, including terms for years and
liens thereon by way of judgments, mortgages or
otherwise, and also all claims for damages to
that real property.
(24) "Recreational
facility" means any building, development, or improvement, provided
that building, facility, development, or improvement
is designed in whole or in part to attract
tourists to the state or to provide essential
overnight accommodations to transients visiting this
state, including, without limiting in any way the
generality of the foregoing, marinas, beaches,
bathing facilities, ski facilities, convention
facilities, hotels, motels, golf courses, camp grounds,
arenas, theatres, lodges, guest cottages, and all
types of real or personal property related thereto as
may be determined from time to time by the
corporation.
(25)
"Revenues" means: (i) with respect to any
project, the rents, fees, tolls, charges,
installment payments, repayments, and other income or
profit derived from a project or a
combination of projects pursuant to any lease,
conditional sales contract, installment sales
contract, loan agreement, or other contract or
agreement, or any combination thereof, and (ii) any
receipts, fees, payments, moneys, revenues or other
payments received or to be received by the
corporation in the exercise of its corporate powers
under this chapter, including, without
limitation, loan repayments, grants, aid,
appropriations and other assistance for the state, the
subdivision thereof, bond proceeds, investment
earnings, insurance proceeds, amounts in reserves
and other funds and accounts established by or
pursuant to this chapter or in connection with the
issuance of bonds, and any other taxes, assessments,
fees, charges, awards or other income or
amounts received or receivable by the corporation.
(26) "Rule or
regulation" means any directive promulgated by the
economic development commerce corporation not inconsistent with the laws of the
or the state, for the improvement of navigation and
commerce or other project purposes and shall
include, but not be limited to, charges, tolls, rates,
rentals, and security provisions fixed or
established by the corporation.
(27) "Sewage"
shall be construed to mean the same as "pollutant" as defined in
section
42-64-3(o) above.
(28) "Sewage
treatment facility" means the sewage treatment plant, structure, combined
sewer overflows, equipment, interceptors, mains,
pumping stations and other property, real,
personal or mixed, for the treatment, storage,
collection, transporting or disposal of sewage, or
any property or system to be used in whole or in part
for any of the aforesaid purposes located or
operated within the boundaries of the Quonset Point/Davisville Industrial Park, or utilized by the
corporation for the transport, collection, treatment,
storage or disposal of waste.
(29) "Solid
waste" means garbage, refuse, and other discarded materials, including,
but
not limited to, solid waste materials resulting from
industrial, recreational, utility, and commercial
enterprises, hotels, apartments, or any other public
building or private building, or agricultural, or
residential activities.
(30) "Solid waste
disposal facility" means any real or personal property, related to or
incidental to any project, which is designed or
intended or designated for the purpose of treating,
compacting, composting, or disposing of solid waste
materials, including treatment, compacting,
composting, or disposal plants, site and equipment
furnishings thereof, and their appurtenances.
(31) "Source"
means any building, structure, facility or installation from which there is
or may be the discharge of sewage.
(32) "State"
means the state of
(33) "State
agency" means any office, department, board, commission, bureau, division,
authority, or public corporation, agency or
instrumentality of the state.
(34) "State guide
plan" means the plan adopted pursuant to section 42-11-10, which
establishes the statewide planning program.
(35) "Utility
facility" means any real or personal property designed, intended or
utilized
for generating, manufacturing, producing, storing,
transmitting, distributing, delivering, or
furnishing natural or manufactured gas, steam,
electrical, or nuclear energy, heat, light, or power
directly or indirectly to or for any project, project
user, or for the public, the collection and
disposal of storm and sanitary sewage; any railroads
necessary or desirable for the free flow of
commerce to and from projects; any roads, highways, bridges,
tunnels, viaducts, or other
crossings necessary or desirable for the free flow of
commerce to and from projects, and any
public transportation systems or facilities,
including, but not limited to, bus, truck, ferry, and
railroad terminals, depots, tracked vehicles, and
other rolling stock and ferries; and any
appurtenances, equipment, and machinery or other
personal property necessary or desirable for
the utilization thereof.
(36) "Water supply
facility" means any real or personal property, or any combination
thereof, related to or incidental to any project,
designed, intended, or utilized for the furnishing of
water for domestic, industrial, irrigation, or other
purposes and including artesian wells,
reservoirs, dams, related equipment, and pipelines,
and other facilities.
(37) "Renewable
energy facility" means any real or personal property, or any
combination thereof, related to, or incidental to, any
project, designed, intended, or utilized for an
eligible renewable energy resource that meets the
criteria set forth in subsections 39-26-5(a) and
39-26-5(c).
42-64-4. Creation.
-- (a) There is authorized, created, and established a public
corporation of the state having a distinct legal
existence from the state and not constituting a
department of state government, which is a
governmental agency and public instrumentality of
the state, to be known as the "economic development commerce
corporation", and
which may be referred to as the "economic
development commerce corporation", with those
powers that are set forth in this chapter, for the
purposes of acquiring and developing real and
personal property, and providing financing to others
as set forth in this chapter, providing and
promoting and encouraging the preservation, expansion
and sound development of new and
existing industry, business, commerce, agriculture,
tourism, recreational, and renewable energy
facilities, promoting thereby the economic development
of the state and the general welfare of its
citizens.
(b) The exercise by the
corporation of the powers conferred by this chapter shall be
deemed and held to be the performance of an essential
governmental function of the state for
public purposes. It is the intent of the general assembly
by the passage of this chapter to vest in
the corporation all powers, authority, rights,
privileges, and titles which may be necessary to
enable it to accomplish the purposes herein set forth,
and this chapter and the powers granted
hereby shall be liberally construed in conformity with
those purposes.
(c) The corporation and
its corporate existence shall continue until terminated by law or
until the corporation shall cease entirely and
continuously to conduct or be involved in any
business whatsoever in furtherance of its purposes;
provided, that no termination shall take effect,
so long as the corporation shall have bonds, notes, or
other obligations outstanding, unless
adequate provision shall have been made for the
payment thereof pursuant to the documents
securing the obligations or to the terminating law.
Upon termination of the existence of the
corporation, all of its rights and properties shall
pass to and be vested in the state. At no time shall
the assets or other property of the corporation inure
to the benefit of any person or other
corporation or entity.
42-64-5. Purposes.
-- The economic development commerce corporation is
authorized, created, and established to be an
agency under the jurisdiction of the state's lead
agency for economic development, the executive office
of commerce, and to be the operating
agency of the state to carry out the policies and
procedure as established by the secretary,
governor and the board of directors as the state's lead agency for economic
development
throughout for
the following purposes:
(1) To promote and
encourage the preservation, expansion, and sound development of
new and existing industry, business, commerce,
agriculture, tourism, and recreational facilities in
the state, which will promote the economic development
of the state and the general welfare of its
citizens; and
(2) With respect to
real property other than federal land or land related to federal land, to
undertake any project, except a residential facility;
and
(3) With respect to
federal land or land related to federal land, to undertake any project,
except as those responsibilities are assigned to the
Quonset Development Corporation. ; and
(4) To create an organization
that is responsive to the needs and interests of businesses of
all sizes within the state of
commerce in the state utilizing all available
resources.
42-64-6. General powers.
-- (a) Except to the extent inconsistent with any specific
provision of this chapter, the economic development commerce
Corporation shall
have the power:
(1) To sue and be sued,
complain and defend, in its corporate name.
(2) To have a seal,
which may be altered at pleasure and to use the seal by causing it, or
a facsimile of the seal, to be impressed or affixed,
or in any other manner reproduced.
(3) To purchase, take,
receive, lease, or otherwise acquire, own, hold, improve, use, and
otherwise deal in and with, real or personal property,
or any interest in real or personal property,
wherever situated.
(4) To sell, convey,
mortgage, pledge, lease, exchange, transfer, and otherwise dispose of
all or any part of its property and assets for any
consideration and upon any terms and conditions
as the corporation shall determine.
(5) To make contracts
and guarantees and incur liabilities, borrow money at any rates of
interest as the corporation may determine.
(6) To make and execute
agreements of lease, conditional sales contracts, installment
sales contracts, loan agreements, mortgages,
construction contracts, operation contracts, and other
contracts and instruments necessary or convenient in
the exercise of the powers and functions of
the corporation granted by this chapter.
(7) To lend money for
its purposes, invest and reinvest its funds, and at its option to take
and hold real and personal property as security for
the payment of funds so loaned or invested.
(8) To acquire or
contract to acquire, from any person, firm, corporation, municipality,
the federal government, or the state, or any agency of
either the federal government or the state,
by grant, purchase, lease, gift, condemnation, or
otherwise, or to obtain options for the acquisition
of any property, real or personal, improved or
unimproved, and interests in land less than the fee
thereof; and to own, hold, clear, improve, develop,
and rehabilitate, and to sell, assign, exchange,
transfer, convey, lease, mortgage, or otherwise
dispose or encumber that property for the
purposes of carrying out the provisions and intent of
this chapter, for any consideration as the
corporation shall determine.
(9) To conduct its activities,
carry on its operations, and have offices and exercise the
powers granted by this chapter, within or outside of
the state.
(10) To elect or
appoint officers and agents of the corporation, and define their duties
and fix their compensation.
(11) To make and alter
by-laws, not inconsistent with this chapter, for the administration
and regulation of the affairs of the corporation, and
those by-laws may contain provisions
indemnifying any person who is or was a director,
officer, employee, or agent of the corporation,
or is or was serving at the request of the corporation
as a director, officer, employee, or agent of
another corporation, partnership, joint venture,
trust, or other enterprise, in the manner and to the
extent provided in section 7-1.2-814 of the business
corporation act.
(12) To be a promoter,
partner, member, associate, or manager of any partnership,
enterprise, or venture.
(13) To have and
exercise all powers necessary or convenient to effect its purposes;
provided, however, that the corporation shall not have
any power to create, empower or otherwise
establish any corporation, subsidiary corporation,
corporate body, any form of partnership, or any
other separate entity without the express approval and
authorization of the general assembly.
(b) Express approval
and authorization of the general assembly shall be deemed to have
been given for all legal purposes on July 1, 1995 for
the creation and lawful management of a
subsidiary corporation created for the management of
the Quonset Point/Davisville Industrial
Park, that subsidiary corporation being managed by a
board of directors, the members of which
shall be constituted as follows: (1) two (2) members
who shall be appointed by the town council
of the town of North Kingstown; (2) two (2) members
who shall be residents of the town of
governor; (4) the chairperson, who shall be: (i) the executive director of the
economic development corporation until such time
that the secretary of commerce is appointed;
(ii) Upon the appointment of a secretary of commerce,
the chief executive officer of the Rhode
Island commerce corporation, and who also shall be the
secretary of the
office of commerce; and (5) non-voting members who shall be the members of the general
assembly whose districts are comprised in any part by
areas located within the town of
The approval and
authorization provided herein shall terminate upon the establishment
of the Quonset Development Corporation as provided for
in chapter 64.10 of this title.
42-64-7.
Additional general powers. -- In addition to the powers enumerated in
section
42-64-6, except to the extent inconsistent with any
specific provision of this chapter, the Rhode
Island economic development commerce
corporation shall have power:
(1) To undertake the
planning, development, construction, financing, management,
operation of any project, and all activities in
relation thereto.
(2) (i) To sell, mortgage, lease, exchange, transfer, or
otherwise dispose of or encumber
any port project, (or in the case of a sale, to accept
a purchase money mortgage in connection
with any port project) or to grant options for any
purposes with respect to any real or personal
property or interest in real or personal property, all
of the foregoing for consideration as the
corporation shall determine. Any lease by the
corporation to another party may be for any part of
the corporation's property, real or personal, for any
period, upon any terms or conditions, with or
without an option on the part of the lessee to
purchase any or all of the leased property for any
consideration, at or after the retirement of all
indebtedness incurred by the corporation on account
thereof, as the corporation shall determine.
(ii) Without limiting
the generality of the foregoing, the corporation is expressly
empowered to lease or sell any part of the real or
personal property owned or controlled by the
corporation to the state, or any department of the
state or to any municipality. The provisions of
this section or of any other laws of this state (other
than this chapter) restricting the power of the
state, its departments or any municipality, to lease
or sell property, or requiring or prescribing
publication of notice of intention to lease or sell,
advertising for bids, the terms of contracts of
lease or sale, that would in any manner interfere with
the purpose of this section, which is to
provide for the mutual cooperation by and between the
corporation and the state, its departments
or any municipality, to the fullest extent possible,
are not applicable to leases and sales made
pursuant to this section.
(3) To prepare or cause
to be prepared plans, specifications, designs, and estimates of
costs for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation,
improvement, alteration, or repair of any
project, and from time to time to modify those plans,
specifications, designs, or estimates.
(4) To manage any
project, whether then owned or leased by the corporation, and to
enter into agreements with the state or any
municipality or any agency or their instrumentalities,
or with any person, firm, partnership, or corporation,
either public or private, for the purpose of
causing any project to be managed.
(5) To provide
advisory, consultative, training, and educational services, technical
assistance, and advice to any person, firm,
partnership, or corporation, whether it is public or
private, in order to carry out the purposes of this
chapter.
(6) Subject to the
provisions of any contract with note holders or bond holders to consent
to the modification, with respect to rate of interest,
time of payments of any installment of
principal or interest, security or any other term of
any mortgage, mortgage loan, mortgage loan
commitment, contract, or agreement of any kind to
which the corporation is a party.
(7) In connection with
any property on which it has made a mortgage loan, to foreclose
on that property or commence an action to protect or
enforce any right conferred upon it by law,
mortgage, contract, or other agreement and to bid for
and purchase the property at any foreclosure
or any other sale, or to acquire or take possession of
the property; and in that event the
corporation may complete, administer, pay the principal
of, or interest on any obligations incurred
in connection with the property, dispose of, and
otherwise deal with the property in a manner as
may be necessary or desirable to protect the interest
of the corporation therein.
(8) As security for the
payment of principal and interest on any bonds or notes or any
agreements made in connection therewith, to mortgage
and pledge any or all of its projects and
property, whether then owned or thereafter acquired,
and to pledge the revenues and receipts from
all or part thereof, and to assign or pledge the
leases, sales contracts or loan agreements or other
agreements on any portion or all of its projects and
property and to assign or pledge the income
received by virtue of the lease, sales contracts, loan
agreements or other agreements.
(9) To invest any funds
of the corporation, including funds held in reserve or sinking
funds, or any moneys not required for immediate use or
disbursement at the discretion of the
corporation, in: (i) obligations
of the state or the
and interest of which are guaranteed by the state or
the
and instrumentalities of the state or the
trust companies or shares of building loan
associations organized under the laws of the state or
doing business in the state or (v) any obligations,
securities, and other investments as shall be
specified in resolutions of the corporation.
(10) To engage the
services of consultants on a contract basis for rendering professional
and technical assistance and advice, and to employ
architects, engineers, attorneys, accountants,
construction, and financial experts and any other
advisors, consultants, and agents as may be
necessary in his or her judgment, and to fix their
compensation.
(11) To contract for
and to accept any gifts or grants or loans or funds or property or
financial or other assistance in any form from the
of the
other source and to comply, subject to the provisions
of this chapter, with the terms and
conditions of this contract.
(12) To enter into
agreements with any municipality or political subdivision, either
directly or on behalf of any other party which holds
legal title to all or any portion of a project as
the lessee from the corporation designated pursuant to
section 42-64-20(c), providing that the
corporation or the lessee shall pay annual sums in
lieu of taxes to the municipality or political
subdivision of the state in respect to any real or
personal property which is owned by the
corporation or the lessee and is located in the
municipality or political subdivision.
(13) To borrow money
and to issue negotiable bonds and notes, and to provide for the
rights of the holders of these bonds and notes, for
the purpose of providing funds to pay all or any
part of the cost of any port project or for the
purpose of refunding any of these bonds issued.
(14) To construct,
acquire, own, repair, develop, operate, maintain, extend, and improve,
rehabilitate, renovate, furnish, and equip one or more
port projects and to pay all or any part of
the costs of these bonds and notes from the proceeds
of bonds of the corporation or from any
contribution, gift, or donation or other funds made
available to the corporation for those purposes.
(15) To fix, charge and
collect rents, fees, tolls, and charges for the use of any port
project and to alter and investigate rates, and
practices of charging, which affect port projects so
as to increase commerce in the state.
(16) To prescribe rules
and regulations deemed necessary or desirable to carry out the
purposes of this chapter including rules and
regulations to insure maximum use and proper
operation of port projects.
(17) To establish
penalties for violations of any order, rule, or regulation of the
corporation, and a method of enforcing these
penalties.
(18) To develop,
maintain, and operate foreign trade zones under those terms and
conditions that may be prescribed by law.
(19) To impose
administrative penalties in accordance with the provisions of section 42-
64-9.2.
(20) To make
assessments and impose reasonable and just user charges, and to pay for
those expenses that may be required by law or as may
be determined by the corporation to be
necessary for the maintenance and operation of the
sewage treatment facility.
(21) To establish a
sewage pretreatment program, and to require as a condition to the
grant or re-issuance of any approval, license, or
permit required under the program that the person
applying for the approval, license or permit, pay to
the corporation a reasonable fee based on the
cost of reviewing and acting upon the application and
based on the costs of implementing the
program. In addition, where a violation of any of the
provisions of this title or any permit, rule,
regulation, or order issued pursuant to this title
have occurred, the violator shall reimburse the
corporation for the actual costs of implementing and
enforcing the terms of the permit, rule,
regulation or order as a condition to the grant or
re-issuance of any approval.
(22) To assist urban
communities revitalize their local economics.
(23) To provide
assistance to minority businesses and to neighborhoods where there is
insufficient economic and business investment.
(24) To support and
assist entrepreneurial activity by minorities and by low and
moderate income persons.
(25) To issue bonds and
notes of the type and for those projects and for those purposes
specified in any Joint Resolution of the General
Assembly adopted by the
representatives and the
entitled "the Rhode Island Public Corporation
Debt Management Act"; and to make such
determinations, enter into such agreements, to deliver
such instruments and to take such other
actions as it shall deem necessary or desirable to
effectuate the financing of such projects.
42-64-7.1.
Subsidiaries. -- (a) (1) The parent corporation shall have the right to
exercise
and perform its powers and functions, or any of them,
through one or more subsidiary
corporations whose creation shall be approved and
authorized by the general assembly.
(2) (i) Express approval and authorization of the general
assembly shall be deemed to
have been given for all legal purposes on July 1, 1995
for the creation and lawful management of
a subsidiary corporation created for the management of
the Quonset Point/Davisville Industrial
Park, that subsidiary corporation being managed by a
board of directors, the members of which
shall be constituted as follows: (A) two (2) members
who shall be appointed by the town council
of the town of
governor; (D) the chairperson, who shall be: (i) the executive director of the
economic development corporation until such time
that the secretary of commerce is appointed;
(ii) Upon the appointment of a secretary of commerce,
the chief executive officer of the Rhode
Island commerce corporation, who also shall be the
secretary of the
of commerce;
and (E) non-voting members, who shall include the members of the general
assembly whose districts are comprised in any part by
areas located within the town of
appointed by the town council of the town of
authorization from the general assembly, the parent
corporation by resolution of the board of
directors may direct any of its directors, officers,
or employees to create subsidiary corporations
pursuant to chapter 1.2 or 6 of title 7 or in the
manner described in subsection (b); provided, that
the parent corporation shall not have any power or
authority to create, empower or otherwise
establish any corporation, subsidiary corporation,
corporate body or any form of partnership or
any other separate entity, without the express
approval and authorization of the general assembly.
(ii) The approval and
authorization provided herein shall terminate upon the
establishment of the Quonset Development Corporation
as provided for in chapter 64.10 of this
title.
(iii) The Quonset
Development Corporation shall be deemed a subsidiary of the Rhode
Island economic development commerce
corporation:
(A) As set forth in
section 42-64.10-6(c); and
(B) Insofar as it
exercises any powers and duties delegated to it by the corporation
pursuant to this chapter for any project other than on
real and personal property owned, leased or
under the control of the corporation located in the
town of
shall be deemed to have authority to delegate any of
its powers, with the exception of the power
to issue any form of negotiable bonds or notes and the
power of eminent domain, in order to
accomplish the purposes of chapter 64.10 of this
title; provided, however, that the corporation
may, as provided for in this chapter, issue bonds or
exercise the power of eminent domain on
behalf of the Quonset Development Corporation or to undertake
a project of the Quonset
Development Corporation.
(b) As used in this
section, "subsidiary public corporation" means a corporation created
pursuant to the provisions of this section. The person
or persons directed by the resolution
referred to in subsection (a) shall prepare articles
of incorporation setting forth: (1) the name of
the subsidiary public corporation; (2) the period of
duration, which may be perpetual; (3) the
purpose or purposes for which the subsidiary public
corporation is organized which shall not be
more extensive than the purposes of the corporation
set forth in section 42-64-5; (4) the number
of directors (which may, but need not be, more than
one) constituting the initial board of directors
and their names and business or residence addresses;
(5) the name and business or residence
address of the person preparing the articles of
incorporation; (6) the date when corporate
existence shall begin (which shall not be earlier than
the filing of the articles of incorporation
with the secretary of state as provided in this
subsection); (7) any provision, not inconsistent with
law, which the board of directors elect to set forth
in the articles of incorporation for the
regulation of the internal affairs of the subsidiary public
corporation; and (8) a reference to the
form of authorization and approval by the general
assembly and to the resolution of the board of
directors authorizing the preparation of the articles
of incorporation. Duplicate originals of the
articles of incorporation shall be delivered to the
secretary of state. If the secretary of state finds
that the articles of incorporation conform to the
provisions of this subsection, the secretary shall
endorse on each of the duplicate originals the word
"Filed," and the month, day and year of the
filing; file one of the duplicate originals in his or
her office; and a certificate of incorporation to
which the secretary shall affix the other duplicate
original. No filing fees shall be payable upon
the filing of articles of incorporation. Upon the
issuance of the certificate of incorporation or upon
a later date specified in the articles of
incorporation, the corporate existence shall begin and the
certificate of incorporation shall be conclusive evidence
that all conditions precedent required to
be performed have been complied with and that the
subsidiary public corporation has been duly
and validly incorporated under the provisions hereof.
The parent corporation may transfer to any
subsidiary public corporation any moneys, real,
personal, or mixed property or any project in
order to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Each
subsidiary public corporation shall have all
the powers, privileges, rights, immunities, tax
exemptions, and other exemptions of the parent
corporation except to the extent that the articles of
incorporation of the subsidiary public
corporation shall contain an express limitation and
except that the subsidiary public corporation
shall not have the condemnation power contained in
section 42-64-9, nor shall it have the powers
contained in, or otherwise be subject to, the
provisions of section 42-64-12 and section 42-64-
13(a), nor shall it have the power to create, empower
or otherwise establish any corporation,
subsidiary corporation, corporate body, any form of
partnership, or any other separate entity,
without the express approval and authorization of the
general assembly.
(c) Any subsidiary
corporation shall not be subject to the provisions of section 42-64-
8(a), (c), and (d), except as otherwise provided in
the articles of incorporation of the subsidiary
corporation.
(d) The economic
development commerce corporation, as the parent
corporation of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation,
shall not be liable for the debts or
obligations or for any actions or inactions of the
Rhode Island Airport Corporation, unless the
economic development commerce
corporation expressly agrees otherwise in
writing.
(e) The East Providence
Waterfront District shall, with the approval of its commission
and the board of directors of the corporation, be a
subsidiary of the economic
development commerce
corporation for the purposes of exercising such powers of the corporation
as the board of directors shall determine, and
notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (b),
the act creating the District shall be deemed fully
satisfactory for the purposes of this section
regarding the establishment of subsidiary public
corporations, and the express approval and
authorization of the general assembly shall be deemed
to have been given for all legal purposes
for the creation and lawful management of a subsidiary
corporation created for the purposes of
implementing the purposes of the District.
(f) The parent
corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to create a subsidiary
corporation for the expressed purpose to issue bonds
and notes of the type and for those projects
and purposes specified in the Joint Resolution and Act
of the general assembly adopted by the
(g) The I-195
redevelopment district shall be a subsidiary of the economic
development commerce
corporation for the purposes of exercising such powers of the corporation
as the board of directors shall determine, and
notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (b),
the chapter creating the district shall be deemed
fully satisfactory for the purposes of this section
regarding the establishment of subsidiary public
corporations, and the express approval and
authorization of the general assembly shall be deemed
to have been given for all legal purposes
for the creation and lawful management of a subsidiary
corporation created for the purposes of
implementing the purposes of the district.
(h) The
The board of directors
of the
members: The board of directors shall have extensive
experience in the fields of finance,
business, construction and/or organized labor.
The governor of the
State of
the senate when nominated to serve, the seven (7)
members of the board of directors. One director
shall be appointed for a term of one year; two (2)
directors shall be appointed for a term of two
(2) years; three (3) directors shall be appointed for a
term of three (3) years; and one director shall
be appointed for a term of four (4) years.
Appointments made thereafter shall be for four (4) year
terms.
Any vacancy occurring
in the board of directors shall be filled by the governor of the
State of
A director appointed to
fill a vacancy of a director appointed by the governor of the State
of
whose vacancy is to be filled.
All members of the
board of directors of the
without compensation.
42-64-7.4. Water
supply facilities. -- (a) The Rhode Island economic development
commerce
corporation is authorized and empowered to acquire and construct water supply
facilities; to maintain, repair, and operate those
facilities; and to issue revenue bonds of the
corporation payable solely from revenues derived from
the leasing of those water supply facilities
to finance them. Development of these projects may be
initiated by the corporation upon request
of a municipality or municipalities seeking to
undertake the project either singly or jointly.
(b) Without limiting
the generality of the foregoing, the corporation is expressly
empowered to lease or sell water supply facilities or
any part of those facilities to any
municipality. A lease by the corporation to any
municipality may be for any period, upon any
terms and conditions, with or without an option to
purchase, as the corporation may determine.
(c) The provisions of
any other laws or ordinances, general, special, or local, or of any
rule or regulation of the state or any municipality,
restricting or regulating in any manner the
power of any municipality to lease, as lessee or lessor, or sell property real, personal, or mixed,
shall not apply to leases and sales made with
authority pursuant to this section; and insofar as the
provisions of this section are inconsistent with the
other laws of this state, general, special, or
local, restricting the power of any municipality to
enter into a lease or to sell property, the
provisions of this section shall be controlling.
(d) Any municipality,
notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, is authorized and
empowered to lease, lend, grant, or convey to the
corporation, at its request upon those terms and
conditions that the proper authorities of a
municipality may deem reasonable and fair and without
the necessity for any advertisement, order of court,
or other action or formality, other than the
regular and formal action of the authorities
concerned, any real property or personal property
which may be necessary or convenient to effectuation
of the authorized purposes of the
corporation including real property already devoted to
public use; and subject to the aforesaid, the
state consents to the use of all lands owned by it,
including land lying under water, and which are
deemed by the corporation to be necessary for the
construction or operation of any water supply
facilities.
42-64-7.5. Transfer
of functions from the department of economic development
Transfer of functions from the economic development
corporation. -- (a) Effective
January 1,
2014, all
All
functions formerly administered by the department of
development corporation are hereby transferred
to the economic development
commerce
corporation. Also effective January 1, 2014, the commerce corporation shall
assume
all rights, duties, liabilities, and obligations of
the former economic development corporation, and
the commerce corporation shall be considered to be the
successor-in-interest to the economic
development corporation.
(b) In addition to any
of its other powers and responsibilities, the Rhode Island economic
development commerce
corporation is authorized and empowered to accept any grants made
available by the
the corporation, with the approval of the governor, is
authorized and empowered to perform any
acts and enter into all necessary contracts and
agreements with the
the
best interests of the state. The proceeds of any
grants received shall be paid to the general
treasurer of the state and deposited in a separate
fund to be used solely for the purposes of the
grant or grants.
42-64-7.6.
Transfer of functions from the governor's office of intergovernmental
relations. -- (a) All functions formerly administered by the governor's office of
intergovernmental relations in the executive department
relating to community development
block grants are hereby transferred to the department
of administration, division of planning.
(b) In addition to any
of its other powers and responsibilities, the Rhode Island economic
development commerce
corporation is authorized and empowered to accept any grants made
available by the
the corporation, with the approval of the governor, is
authorized and empowered to perform any
acts and enter into all necessary contracts and
agreements with the
the
best interest of the state. The proceeds of the received
grants shall be paid to the general treasurer
and deposited in a separate fund to be used solely for
the purposes of the grant or grants.
42-64-7.7. Grant
of powers to the corporation. -- The economic
development commerce
corporation is granted all of the powers necessary and convenient to
perform the functions transferred to the economic
development commerce
corporation pursuant to sections 42-64-7.5 and
42-64-7.6.
42-64-7.8. Sewer
treatment facilities, connections, sewer user fees, charges and
assessments. -- (a) The Rhode Island economic development commerce
corporation shall have
full and complete authority to limit, deny, or cause
appropriate direct or indirect connections to be
made between any building or property located in the
Quonset Point/Davisville Industrial Park, or
from any location outside the boundaries of the
Quonset Point/Davisville Park and discharging
into the corporation's sewage treatment facility. The
corporation shall prescribe those rules and
regulations for sewer connections that in the opinion
of the corporation are necessary and
appropriate for the maintenance and operation of the
sewer treatment facility. No person shall
make any connection from any structure to any sewer or
appurtenance thereto discharging to the
sewage treatment facility without first being granted
a written permit from the corporation in
accordance with its rules and regulations. economic
development commerce
corporation shall have full and complete power and
authority to compel any person within the
Quonset Point/Davisville
Industrial Park, for the purpose of sewage disposal, to establish a direct
connection on the property of the individual, firm, partnership
or corporation, or at the boundary
thereof to the corporation's sewage treatment
facility. These connections shall be made at the
expense of the individual, firm, partnership or
corporation. The term "appurtenance" as used
herein shall be construed to include adequate pumping
facilities, whenever the pumping facilities
shall be necessary to deliver sewage to the sewage
treatment facility.
(b) The economic
development commerce corporation shall assess any
person having a direct or indirect connection to the
Quonset Point/Davisville Industrial Park
sewage treatment facility the reasonable charges for
the use, operation, maintenance and
improvements to the facility.
(c) The economic
development commerce corporation shall proceed under
the provisions of this chapter to collect the fees,
charges and assessments from any individual,
firm, partnership or corporation so assessed. Each
entity so assessed shall pay the fees, charges,
or assessments within the time frame prescribed by the
rules and regulations of the corporation.
The economic development commerce
corporation may collect the fees, charges
and assessments in the same manner in which taxes are
collected by municipalities, with no
additional fees, charges, assessments or penalties
(other than those provided for in chapter 9 of
title 44). All unpaid charges shall be a lien upon the
real estate of the individual, firm, partnership
or corporation. The lien shall be filed in the records
of land evidence for the city or town in which
the property is located and the corporation shall
simultaneously with the filing of the lien give
notice to the property owner. Owners of property
subject to a lien for unpaid charges are entitled
to a hearing within fourteen (14) days of the
recording of the lien.
(d) Notwithstanding the
provisions of subsection (c), the Rhode Island economic
development commerce
corporation is authorized to terminate the water supply service of any
individual, firm, partnership or corporation for the
nonpayment of sewer user fees, charges and
assessments. The corporation shall notify the user of
termination of water supply at least forty-
eight (48) hours prior to ceasing service. The
corporation may assess any individual, firm,
partnership or corporation any fees, charges and
assessments affiliated with the shut off and
restoration of service.
42-64-7.9. Orders
as to pretreatment of sewage. -- (a) Without limiting the generality
of the foregoing, the authority vested in the economic
development commerce
corporation shall include the authority to limit,
reject, or prohibit any direct or indirect discharge
of pollutants or combination of pollutants as defined
by applicable federal or state law, into any
treatment facility operated by the corporation, to
require that any person or class of user shall
submit any and all discharges into the corporation's
wastewater collection and treatment system to
those pretreatment standards and requirements as
prescribed by the corporation.
(b) The corporation
shall adopt rules, regulations and permit requirements for
pretreatment. The corporation shall adopt rules,
regulations and permit requirements necessary to
ensure compliance by all parties with:
(1) Applicable federal
and state laws
(2) State and federal
discharge permit limitations for the corporation's wastewater
treatment facility
(3) Necessary and
appropriate local limitations.
(c) The economic
development commerce corporation shall have the
authority to issue or deny permits to any person for
the direct or indirect discharge of any
pollutants into any corporation wastewater treatment
facility and to require the development of a
compliance schedule by each discharger to insure
compliance with any pretreatment required by
the corporation. No person shall discharge any
pollutant into the corporation's wastewater facility
except as in compliance with the provisions of this
section and any rules and regulations
promulgated under this chapter and pursuant to all
terms and conditions of a permit.
(d) The economic
development commerce corporation may, by regulation,
order, permit or otherwise require any person who
discharges into any wastewater treatment
facility owned by the corporation to:
(1) Establish and
maintain records as required by federal or state statute, or by rule,
regulation, compliance order or permit terms;
(2) Make any and all
reports as required by federal or state statute or by rule, regulation,
compliance order or permit terms;
(3) Install, calibrate,
use and maintain any and all monitoring equipment or testing
procedures including, where appropriate, biological monitoring
methods;
(4) Sample any
discharges and effluents in accordance with the methods and at the
locations and at the intervals and in a manner as the
corporation may prescribe, and
(5) Provide any other
information relating to discharges into the facilities of the
corporation that the corporation may reasonably
require to insure compliance with prescribed
pretreatment. The information shall include, but is
not limited to, those records, reports and
procedures required by applicable federal and state
laws.
(e) Notwithstanding any
other provision of this section, the Rhode Island economic
development commerce
corporation shall have the authority, and shall accordingly prescribe the
appropriate procedures, to immediately and effectively
halt or prevent any discharge of pollutants
into the facilities of the corporation which
reasonably appears to present an imminent danger to
human health or the environment. The economic development commerce
corporation shall also have the authority and shall
prescribe the appropriate procedures, which
shall include notice to the affected discharger and an
opportunity to respond, to hold or prevent
any discharge into the facilities of the corporation,
which presents or may present a threat to the
operation of the wastewater collection and/or
treatment system. Procedures prescribed under this
subsection, which comply in form to those provided in
section 42-17.1-2(21) shall be deemed to
be appropriate.
42-64-7.11.
Venture capital forum program. -- The economic
development commerce
corporation shall establish a "Rhode Island Venture Capital Forum
Program." To establish the program, the
corporation shall organize a statewide system for
facilitating venture capital investing. Such system
may include, but need not be limited to, the
following:
(a) Identifying and
providing information to investors about investment opportunities in
new and high-growth business enterprises;
(b) Identifying and
providing information to entrepreneurs and high-growth business
enterprises about investors seeking investment
opportunities;
(c) Providing statewide
and regional meetings, forums, internet-based information
systems, venture capital fairs, and other opportunities
for venture capital investors and new and
high-growth business enterprises to meet and discuss
potential mutual opportunities;
(d) Cooperating with
other service entities in facilitating effectiveness of the program
including, but not limited to, financial institutions,
attorneys, accountants, investment banking
firms, established venture capital funds, institutions
of higher education, local and regional
development organizations, business development
centers, business incubators, and utilities;
(e) Serving as a
clearinghouse and access point for information about venture capital
investment opportunities in
(f) Serving as the
central organization and means of delivering appropriate education and
training programs for potential investors and new or
high-growth business enterprises;
(g) Facilitating the
formation of private venture capital funds. ;
(h) Reviewing
annually the current status of venture capital in
conjunction with the full capital continuum needs of
businesses in
report to the legislature as to the availability of
capital for businesses in
shall analyze the needs of small and larger businesses
in
work in conjunction with any organization formed to
provide economic analysis for the state.
42-64-7.13.
National security infrastructure support fund. -- The
economic development commerce corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to
administer
the national security infrastructure support fund in
accordance with the powers and terms
enumerated in chapter 32 of title 30.
42-64-8.
Directors, officers, and employees. -- (a) The powers of the
economic development commerce corporation shall be vested in a board of directors
consisting of
thirteen (13) members.
(1) The governor shall
serve as a member of the board and as chairperson, ex-officio,
who shall vote only in the event of a tie.
(2) In addition to the
governor, the membership of the board shall consist of twelve (12)
public members to be appointed by the governor.
(3) Each gubernatorial appointee
shall be subject to the advice and consent of the senate
and no one shall be eligible for appointment unless he
or she is a resident of this state. The
membership of the board shall reflect the geographic
diversity of the state. Four (4) of the public
members shall be owners or principals of small
businesses doing business in this state which are
independently owned and operated and which employs one
hundred (100) or fewer persons. One
other of the public members shall be a representative
of organized labor. One other of the public
members shall be a representative of higher education.
One other of the public members shall be
a representative from the governor's work force board.
One other of the public members shall be a
representative of a minority business. One other of the public members shall be appointed on
an
interim basis by the governor when a project plan of
the corporation situated on federal land is
disapproved by the governing body of a municipality in
accordance with section 42-64-13(a)(4).
The member shall be the mayor of the municipality
within whose borders all or a majority of the
project plan is to be carried out, or in a
municipality, which has no mayor, the member shall be
the president of the town or city council. The
appointed interim member shall have all the powers
of other members of the board only in its
deliberations and action on the disapproval of the
project plan situated on federal land and within the
borders of his or her municipality. Upon final
action by the board pursuant to section
42-64-13(a)(5), the interim member's term of appointment
shall automatically terminate.
(4) It shall be the
responsibility of the corporation to conduct a training course for newly
appointed and qualified members and new designees of
ex-officio members within six (6) months
of their qualification or designation. The course
shall be developed by the executive director of
the corporation or his or her designee, be approved by
the board, and conducted by the executive
director or his or her designee. The board may approve
the use of any board or staff members or
other individuals to assist with training. The
training course shall include instruction in the
following areas: the provisions of the entirety of
chapter 64 of this title and of chapters 46 of this
title, 14 of title 36, and 2 of title 38 of the
regulations. The director of the department of
administration shall, within ninety (90) days of July
15, 2005, prepare and disseminate materials relating
to the provisions of chapters 46 of this title,
14 of title 36, and 2 of title 38.
(5) Members of the
board shall be removable by the governor, pursuant to the provisions
of section 36-1-7 and for cause only, and removal
solely for partisan or personal reasons
unrelated to capacity or fitness for the office shall
be unlawful.
(6) The five (5)
current members of the board of directors who were duly appointed and
who have unexpired terms shall continue as directors
of the corporation until February 1, 2010,
and thereafter until their successors are appointed
and qualified. Upon passage of this act, the
governor shall appoint seven (7) members to the board,
with terms expiring as follows: three (3)
members shall have terms expiring on February 1, 2011;
three (3) members shall have terms
expiring on February 1, 2012; and one member shall
have a term expiring on February 1, 2013. In
January 2010, the governor shall appoint five (5)
members to the board with terms expiring as
follows: two (2) members shall have terms expiring on
February 1, 2013 and three (3) members
shall have terms expiring on February 1, 2014.
Beginning in 2011 and annually thereafter, during
the month of January, the governor shall appoint a
member or members to succeed the member or
members whose terms will then next expire to serve for
a term of four (4) years commencing on
the first day of February and then next following, and
thereafter until the successors are appointed
and qualified. Beginning in 2011 and annually
thereafter the governor shall appoint owners or
principals of small businesses doing business in this
state which are independently owned and
operated, and which employs one hundred (100) or fewer
persons. The members of the board
shall be eligible to succeed themselves, but only upon
reappointment and with senate advice and
consent. The current members of the board of
directors of the
development corporation who were duly appointed and
who have unexpired terms shall be
considered as directors of the corporation until their
terms expire, and thereafter until their
successors are appointed and qualified.
(7) In the event of a
vacancy occurring in the office of a member by death, resignation or
otherwise, that vacancy shall be filled in the same
manner as an original appointment, but only for
the remainder of the term of the former member.
(b) The directors shall
receive no compensation for the performance of their duties under
this chapter, but each director shall be reimbursed
for his or her reasonable expenses incurred in
carrying out those duties. A director may engage in
private employment, or in a profession or
business.
(c) The chairperson
shall designate a vice chairperson from among the members of the
board who shall serve at the pleasure of the
chairperson. A majority of directors holding office
shall constitute a quorum, and, except as otherwise
provided in section 42-64-13, any action to be
taken by the corporation under the provisions of this
chapter may be authorized by resolution
approved by a majority of the directors present and
entitled to vote at any regular or special
meeting at which a quorum is present. A vacancy in the
membership of the board of directors
shall not impair the right of a quorum to exercise all
of the rights and perform all of the duties of
the corporation.
(d) The chief executive
officer of the corporation shall be executive director of the
corporation until such time that the secretary of
commerce is appointed. , appointed by the
governor with the advice and consent of the senate.
The executive director shall hold office for
the term of three (3) years from the time of his or her
appointment and until his or her successor is
duly appointed and qualified. The director shall be
eligible for reappointment, and shall not
engage in any other occupation. The executive director
of the corporation shall be entitled to
receive for his or her services any reasonable
compensation as the board of directors may
determine. Upon
the appointment of a secretary of commerce, the secretary of commerce shall be
the commerce corporation’s chief executive officer and
responsible for the management of the
corporation. There shall be a chief operating officer
(COO) of the corporation and he/she shall be
appointed by the secretary of commerce. The COO shall
be the chief administrative officer of the
corporation and responsible for the day to day management
of the corporation. The COO shall be
a professional in the area of economic development,
management of economic development
corporations, and shall hold the requisite experience
and education as established by the secretary
and board.
(e) The board of
directors shall appoint a secretary and such additional officers and staff
members as they shall deem appropriate and shall
determine the amount of reasonable
compensation, if any, each shall receive. The board of
directors may vest in the executive
director, or the director's subordinates and, upon
the appointment of a secretary of commerce, the
chief operating officer or the chief operating
officer's subordinates, the authority
to appoint
additional staff members and to determine the amount
of compensation each individual shall
receive.
(f) No full-time
employee shall during the period of his or her employment by the
corporation engage in any other private employment,
profession or business, except with the
approval of the board of directors.
(g) Notwithstanding any
other law to the contrary, it shall not be or constitute a conflict
of interest for a director, officer, or employee of
any financial institution, investment banking
firm, brokerage firm, commercial bank, trust company,
building-loan association, architecture
firm, insurance company, or any other firm, person, or
corporation to serve as a director of the
corporation, nor shall any contract or transaction
between the corporation and a financial
institution, investment banking firm, brokerage firm,
commercial bank, trust company, building-
loan association, architecture firm, insurance
company, or other firm, person, or corporation be
void or voidable by reason of that service as director
of the corporation. If any director, officer, or
employee of the corporation shall be interested either
directly or indirectly, or shall be a director,
officer, or employee of or have an ownership interest
(other than as the owner of less than one
percent (1%) of the shares of a publicly-held
corporation) in any firm or corporation interested
directly or indirectly in any contract with the
corporation, that interest shall be disclosed to the
corporation and set forth in the minutes of the
corporation, and the director, officer, or employee
having that ownership interest shall not participate
on behalf of the corporation in the
authorization of that contract. Interested directors
may be counted in determining the presence of
a quorum at a meeting of the board of directors of the
corporation, which authorizes the contract
or transaction.
(h) Any action taken by
the corporation under the provisions of this chapter may be
authorized by vote at any regular or special meeting,
and each vote shall take effect immediately.
The corporation shall be subject to the provisions of
chapter 42-46 ("Open Meetings") and
chapter 38-2 ("Access to Public Records"). All meetings shall be open to the public and all
records shall be a matter of public record except that
if a majority of the board of directors
decides that it would be in the best interests of the
corporation and the state to hold an executive
session in private, then the board of directors is authorized
to transact any business it deems
necessary at that executive session in private, and
the record of the executive session shall not
become a matter of public record until the transaction
discussed has in the opinion of the board of
directors been completed.
(i)
The board of directors may designate from among its members an executive
committee and one or more other committees each of
which, to the extent authorized by the board
of directors, shall have and may exercise all of the
authority of the board of directors, but no
executive committee shall have the authority of the
board of directors in reference to the
disposition of all or substantially all of the
property and assets of the corporation, amending the
by-laws of the corporation, exercising the
condemnation power conferred upon the corporation by
section 42-64-9 or taking actions described or
referred to in section 42-64-13(a).
(j) The board shall
create a capital finance subcommittee which shall be responsible for
drafting for board approval a set of guidelines,
principals and processes for all loans, loan
guarantees and financing programs. The guidelines
shall contain a set of metrics which the board
can use to determine the effectiveness of each program
and to inform the governor and the
general assembly of the outcome of the various
programs and to determine if there is need for
modification, continuance or termination. The
guidelines shall also contain measures to annually
review the outstanding loan and loan guarantee
programs to determine if the loans and loan
guarantees were granted in accordance with the board’s
guidelines and principals and to
determine the risk factors normally used by lending
institutions to determine risk and potential for
repayment. The board shall also implement the
provisions of sections 42-64-36 and 42-64-37.
(j)(k) Any
action required by this chapter to be taken at a meeting of the board of
directors, or any action which may be taken at a
meeting of the board of directors, or committee
of the board of directors, may be taken without a
meeting if a consent in writing, setting forth the
action to be taken, shall be signed before or after
that action by all of the directors, or all of the
members of the committee, as the case may be.
(k)(l)
Employees of the corporation shall not, by reason of their employment, be
deemed
to be employees of the state for any purpose, any
other provision of the general laws to the
contrary notwithstanding, including, without limiting
the generality of the foregoing, chapters 29,
39, and 42 of title 28 and chapters 4, 8, 9, and 10 of
title 36.
(m) The board shall
create a set of metrics and reporting requirements to disclose the
programs and services offered or provided by the
corporation and the effectiveness of each
offering. The board shall develop an annual report
containing these metrics and shall submit the
report to the governor and the general assembly. The
annual report shall also contain
recommendations for improving the business climate
within the state and other actions the board
deems necessary to improve its effectiveness.
42-64-8.1.
Appropriation and expenses. -- The general assembly shall annually
appropriate any sums that it may deem necessary to
carry out the provisions of this chapter; and
the state controller is authorized and directed to
draw his or her orders upon the general treasurer
for the payment of that sum, or so much as may be
required from time to time, upon receipt by
the controller of proper vouchers authenticated.
42-64-9.
Condemnation power. -- (a) If, for any of the purposes of this chapter,
the
economic development commerce
corporation shall find it necessary to acquire any
real property, whether for immediate or future use,
the corporation may find and determine that
the property, whether a fee simple absolute or a
lesser interest, is required for the acquisition,
construction, or operation of a project, and upon that
determination, the property shall be deemed
to be required for public use until otherwise
determined by the corporation; and with the
exceptions hereinafter specifically noted, the
determination shall not be affected by the fact that
the property has been taken for, or is then devoted
to, a public use; but the public use in the hands
or under the control of the corporation shall be
deemed superior to the public use in the hands of
any other person, association, or corporation;
provided further, however, that no real property or
interest, estate, or right in these belonging to the
state shall be acquired without consent of the
state; and no real property or interest, estate, or
right in these belonging to any municipality shall
be acquired without the consent of the municipality;
and no real property, or interest or estate in
these, belonging to a public utility corporation may
be acquired without the approval of the public
utility commission or another regulatory body having
regulatory power over the corporation
except for the following real property or interest or
estate in these: the underground electric
distribution system, located at the Quonset Point/Davisville industrial complex ("QP/D"), North
cables installed in underground conduits, together
with all equipment and appurtenances to these
for the furnishing of underground electric service
running from the southwesterly side of Kiefer
Park Substation 81 located in QP/D in an easterly and
southeasterly direction to Carrier Pier
Substation 82 located in QP/D together with any and
all rights and easements as may be
necessary to repair, maintain, operate or otherwise
gain access to the above-mentioned property.
(b) The corporation may
proceed to acquire and is authorized to and may proceed to
acquire property, whether a fee simple absolute or a
lesser interest, by the exercise of the right of
eminent domain in the manner prescribed in this
chapter.
(c) Nothing contained
in this section shall be construed to prohibit the corporation from
bringing any proceedings to remove a cloud on title or
any other proceedings that it may, in its
discretion, deem proper and necessary, or from
acquiring property by negotiation or purchase.
(d) The necessity for
the acquisition of property under this chapter shall be conclusively
presumed upon the adoption by the corporation of a
vote determining that the acquisition of the
property or any interest in property described in that
vote is necessary for the acquisition,
construction, or operation of a project. Within six
(6) months after its passage, the corporation
shall cause to be filed in the appropriate land
evidence records a copy of its vote together with a
statement signed by the chairperson or
vice-chairperson of the corporation that the property is
taken pursuant to this chapter, and also a description
of the real property indicating the nature and
extent of the estate or interest in the estate taken
and a plat of the real property, which copy of the
vote and statement of the chairperson or
vice-chairperson shall be certified by the secretary of the
corporation and the description and plat shall be
certified by the city or town clerk for the city or
town within which the real property lies.
(e) Forthwith
thereafter the corporation shall cause to be filed in the superior court in and
for the county within which the real property lies a
statement of the sum of money estimated to be
just compensation for the property taken, and shall
deposit in the superior court to the use of the
persons entitled to the money the sum set forth in the
statement. The corporation shall satisfy the
court that the amount deposited with the court is
sufficient to satisfy the just claims of all persons
having an estate or interest in the real property.
Whenever the corporation satisfies the court that
the claims of all persons interested in the real property
taken have been satisfied, the unexpended
balance shall be ordered repaid forthwith to the
corporation.
(f) Upon the filing of
the copy of the vote, statement, description, and plat in the land
evidence records and upon the making of the deposit in
accordance with the order of the superior
court, title to the real property in fee simple
absolute or any lesser estate or interest specified in
the resolution shall vest in the corporation, and that
real property shall be deemed to be
condemned and taken for the use of the corporation and
the right to just compensation for the
condemned property shall vest in the persons entitled
to compensation, and the corporation
thereupon may take possession of the real property. No
sum paid unto the court shall be charged
with clerks' fees of any nature.
(g) After the filing of
the copy of the vote, statement, description, and plat, notice of the
taking of that land or other real property shall be
served upon the owners of, or persons having
any estate or interest in, the real property by the
sheriff or his or her deputies of the county in
which the real estate is situated by leaving a true
and attested copy of the vote, statement,
description, and plat with each of those persons
personally, or at the last and usual place of abode
in this state with some person living there, and in
case any of those persons are absent from this
state and have no last and usual place of abode
therein occupied by any person, the copy shall be
left with the person or persons, if any, in charge of,
or having possession of the real property
taken of the absent persons, and another copy shall be
mailed to the address of the person, if the
address is known to the officer serving the notice.
(h) After the filing of
the vote, description, and plat, the corporation shall cause a copy to
be published in some newspaper having general
circulation in the city or town in which the real
property lies at least once a week for three (3)
successive weeks.
(i)
If any party shall agree with the corporation upon the price to be paid for the
value of
the real property so taken and of appurtenant damage
to any remainder or for the value of his or
her estate, right, or interest therein, the court,
upon application of the parties in interest, may order
that the sum agreed upon be paid forthwith from the
money deposited, as the just compensation to
be awarded in the proceedings; provided, however, that
no payment shall be made to any official
or employee of the corporation for any property or
interest in the property acquired from the
official or employee unless the amount of the payment
is determined by the court to constitute
just compensation to be awarded in the proceedings.
(j) Any owner of, or
person entitled to any estate or right in, or interested in any part of,
the real property taken, who cannot agree with the
corporation upon the price to be paid for his or
her estate, right or interest in the real property
taken and the appurtenant damage to the
remainder, may, within three (3) months after personal
notice of the taking, or if he or she has no
personal notice, may within one year from the time the
sum of money estimated to be just
compensation is deposited in the superior court to the
use of the persons entitled to the
compensation, apply by petition to the superior court
for the county in which the real property is
situated, setting forth the taking of his or her land
or his or her estate or interest in these and
praying for an assessment of damages by the court or
by a jury. Upon the filing of the petition,
the court shall cause twenty (20) days' notice of the
pendency of a trial to be given to the
corporation by serving the chairperson or vice
chairperson of the corporation with a certified copy
of the notice.
(k) After the service
of notice, the court may proceed to the trial thereof. The trial shall
be conducted as other civil actions at law are tried.
The trial shall determine all questions of fact
relating to the value of the real property, and any
estate or interest, and the amount of this value
and the appurtenant damage to any remainder and the
amount of this damage, and the trial and
decision or verdict of the court or jury shall be
subject to all rights to except to rulings, to move
for new trial, and to appeal, as are provided by law.
Upon the entry of judgment in those
proceedings, execution shall be issued against the
money deposited in court and in default against
any other property of the corporation.
(l) In case two (2) or
more petitioners make claim to the same real property, or to any
estate or interest, or to different estate or
interests in the same real property, the court shall, upon
motion, consolidate their several petitions for trial
at the same time, and may frame all necessary
issues for the trial.
(m) If any real
property or any estate or interest, in which any minor or other person not
capable in law to act in his or her own behalf is interested,
is taken under the provisions of this
chapter, the superior court, upon the filing of a
petition by or in behalf of the minor or person or
by the corporation, may appoint a guardian ad litem for the minor or other person. Guardians
may, with the advice and consent of the superior
court, and upon any terms as the superior court
may prescribe, release to the corporation all claims
for damages for the land of the minor or other
person or for any estate or interest. Any lawfully
appointed, qualified, and acting guardian or
other fiduciary of the estate of any minor or other
person, with the approval of the court of
probate within this state having jurisdiction to
authorize the sale of lands and properties within
this state of the minor or other person, may before
the filing of any petition, agree with the minor
or other person for any taking of his or her real
property or of his or her interest or estate, and
may, upon receiving the amount, release to the
corporation all claims for damages for the minor
or other person for the taking.
(n) In case any owner
of or any person having an estate or interest in the real property
fails to file his or her petition, superior court for
the county in which the real property is situated,
in its discretion, may permit the filing of the
petition within one year subsequent to the year
following the time of the deposit in the superior
court of the sum of money estimated to be just
compensation for the property taken; provided, the
person shall have had no actual knowledge of
the taking of the land in season to file the petition;
and provided, no other person or persons
claiming to own the real property or estate or
interest shall have been paid the value; and
provided, no judgment has been rendered against the
corporation for the payment of the value to
any other person or persons claiming to own the real
estate.
(o) If any real
property or any estate or interest is unclaimed or held by a person or
persons whose whereabouts are unknown, after making
inquiry satisfactory to the superior court
for the county in which the real property lies, the
corporation, after the expiration of two (2) years
from the first publication of the copy of the vote,
statement, description, and plat, may petition the
court that the value of the estate or interest of the
unknown person or persons be determined.
After the notice by publication to any person or
persons that the court in its discretion may order,
and after a hearing on the petition, the court shall
fix the value of the estate or interest and shall
order the sum to be deposited in the registry of the
court in a special account to accumulate for
the benefit of the person or persons, if any, entitled
to it. The receipt of the clerk of the superior
court shall constitute a discharge of the corporation
from all liability in connection with the
taking. When the person entitled to the money
deposited shall have satisfied the superior court of
his or her right to receive that money, the court
shall cause it to be paid over to him or her, with
all accumulations thereon.
(p) The superior court
shall have power to make any orders with respect to
encumbrances, liens, taxes, and other charges on the
land, if any, as shall be just and equitable.
(q) Whenever, in the
opinion of the corporation, a substantial saving in the cost of
acquiring title can be effected by conveying other
real property, title to which is in the
corporation, to the person or persons from whom the
estate or interest in real property is being
purchased or taken, or by the construction or
improvement by the corporation of any work or
facility upon the remaining real property of the
person or persons from whom the estate or
interest in real property is being purchased or taken,
the corporation shall be and hereby is
authorized to convey that other real property to the
person or persons from whom the estate or
interest in real property is being purchased or taken
and to construct or improve any work or
facility upon the remaining land of the person or
persons.
(r) At any time during
the pendency of any proceedings for the assessment of damages
for property or interests taken or to be taken by
eminent domain by the corporation, the
corporation or any owner may apply to the court for an
order directing an owner or the
corporation, as the case may be, to show cause why
further proceedings should not be expedited,
and the court may upon that application make an order
requiring that the hearings proceed and
that any other steps be taken with all possible
expedition.
42-64-9.1.
Inspection powers. -- (a) The Rhode Island economic development
commerce
corporation is authorized to carry out all inspection, surveillance and
monitoring
procedures necessary to determine, independent of
information supplied by any discharger or
permit holder compliance or non-compliance by the
person with pretreatment requirements
prescribed by the corporation.
(b) The corporation or
its duly authorized employees or agents, upon presentation of
identification and appropriate credentials, is
authorized:
(1) To enter without
delay and at reasonable times, those premises, both public and
private, either receiving services from the corporation,
or applying for a permit for discharge into
the corporation's wastewater collection and treatment
system;
(2) To examine any and
all records kept in accordance with the rules and regulations
adopted by the corporation, or required by permit or
compliance order or maintained pursuant to
section 42-64-7.9;
(3) To have access to
and inspect or test any monitoring or testing equipment or
monitoring or testing method, or to sample any
effluent or discharge during regular working
hours, or at other reasonable times, or at any time a
discharge is reasonably believed to present an
imminent danger to human health or the environment.
(c) Any person
obstructing, hindering or in any way causing to be obstructed or hindered
the corporation or its duly authorized employees or
agents in the performance of their duties, or
who shall refuse to permit the corporation or its duly
authorized employees or agents entrance to
or egress from any premises, buildings, plant or
equipment or other places belonging to or
controlled by the person in the performance of his or
her duties shall be subject to the civil and
criminal penalties set forth in sections 42-64-9.2 and
42-64-9.3.
42-64-9.2. Civil
penalties. -- (a) Any person who violates the provisions of this
chapter
or of any permit, rule, regulation, or order issued
pursuant thereto, shall be subject to a civil
penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars
($25,000) for each day during which the
violation occurs.
(b) The economic
development commerce corporation shall, in the same
manner as cities and towns are authorized under the
provisions of section 45-6-2.3(a)(4) and the
Narragansett Bay Commission are authorized under the
provisions of section 46-25-25.2(b),
obtain actual costs and reasonable attorney's fees
incurred by the corporation in seeking
compliance, penalties or damages.
42-64-9.4.
Procedures for enforcement. -- (a) The Rhode Island economic
development
commerce corporation
shall have authority to seek legal or equitable relief in the federal court or
in the superior court of Providence county to enforce
the requirements of sections 307(b) and (c);
402(b)(8) and other applicable sections of the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act [33 U.S.C.
section 1251 et seq.]and any regulations implementing
those sections or authorized by this
chapter. Whenever, on the basis of any information
available to the corporation, the corporation
has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has
violated any provision of this chapter or of
any permit, rule, regulation or order issued pursuant
to this chapter the corporation may institute
administrative, civil or criminal proceedings in the
name of the economic
development commerce
corporation. The corporation shall not be required to enter into any
recognizance or give surety for costs prior to
instituting this proceeding. The corporation has the
authority to order any person who violates any
provision of this chapter or of any permit, rule,
regulation or order issued pursuant to this chapter to
cease and desist the violation or to remedy
the violation and to impose administrative penalties.
The corporation may impose administrative
penalties only in accordance with the notice and
hearing provisions of chapter 35 of this title, this
chapter and as set forth in the corporation's rules
and regulations.
(b) The superior court
for
provisions of this chapter and any rule, regulation,
permit or administrative order issued pursuant
to this chapter. Proceedings for enforcement may be
instituted and prosecuted in the name of the
corporation. In any proceeding on which injunctive
relief is sought, it shall not be necessary for
the corporation to establish that without the relief
the injury, which will result will be irreparable
or that the remedy at law is inadequate. Proceedings
provided in this section shall be in addition
to, and may be utilized in lieu of, other
administrative or judicial proceedings authorized by this
chapter.
42-64-9.5.
Hearings. -- At all hearings held under the provisions of this chapter,
the
economic development commerce
corporation and its members shall have the right
to administer oaths. All persons testifying at the
hearings shall do so under oath and under penalty
of perjury. The corporation shall have the right to
issue subpoenas to compel the appearance of
witnesses and/or the production of any books, records,
or other documents. Any person may be
represented by counsel at the hearing. The corporation
may adjourn the hearings from time to
time whenever the adjournment shall in its opinion, be
necessary or desirable. The testimony
adduced at the hearing shall be transcribed by a
stenographer.
42-64-9.6. Notice
of decisions. -- Within a reasonable time following the conclusion of
the hearing, the economic development commerce
corporation shall render its
decision and findings and shall give notice by
publication in some newspaper of general
circulation published in
by mailing a copy by registered or certified mail to
each person who shall have registered with
the corporation with his or her name and address with
a request for specific notification of the
results of the hearing.
42-64-9.7. Notice
of hearing on orders. -- Before adopting or entering any order
applicable to any one or more specific persons, the
Rhode Island economic development
commerce
corporation shall give to each of the persons, by registered or certified mail,
twenty
(20) days notice of the time and place of the hearing
to be afforded to each of the persons if he,
she or it desires the hearing. The notice shall state
the date, time and location of the hearing.
42-64-9.9. Public
access to information. -- Any permit, permit application or effluent
data shall be available to the public for inspection
and copying. The
development corporation shall treat as privileged any
information, which would, if made public,
divulge methods or processes entitled to protections
as trade secrets of the person or entity. in
accordance with chapter 38-2 ("Access to Public
Records"). Confidential or
privileged materials
may be disclosed or transmitted to other officers,
employees or agents of the corporation.
42-64-9.10. Rules
and regulations -- Notice of rule review. -- The
economic development commerce corporation may adopt rules and regulations or any
amendments to rules and regulations according to the
provisions of chapter 35 of title 42. The
corporation shall also give notice of these rules and
regulations or any amendments, prior to their
effective date, by sending, by registered or certified
mail, copies to each person interested in these
rules, regulations or any amendments who shall have
registered with the corporation his or her
name and address, with a request to be notified.
Review of the rules and regulations may be had
as provided in chapter 35 of title 42.
42-64-10. Findings
of the corporation. -- (a) Except as specifically provided in this
chapter, the economic development commerce
corporation shall not be empowered
to undertake the acquisition, construction,
reconstruction, rehabilitation, development, or
improvement of a project, nor enter into a contract
for any undertaking or for the financing of this
undertaking, unless it first:
(1) Finds:
(i)
That the acquisition or construction and operation of the project will prevent,
eliminate, or reduce unemployment or underemployment
in the state and will generally benefit
economic development of the state;
(ii) That adequate
provision has been made or will be made for the payment of the cost
of the acquisition, construction, operation, and
maintenance and upkeep of the project;
(iii) That, with
respect to real property, the plans and specifications assure adequate
light, air, sanitation, and fire protection;
(iv) That the project
is in conformity with the applicable provisions of chapter 23 of title
46; and
(v) That the project is
in conformity with the applicable provisions of the state guide
plan; and
(2) Prepares and
publicly releases an analysis of the impact the proposed project will or
may have on the State. The analysis shall be supported
by appropriate data and documentation
and shall consider, but not be limited to, the
following factors:
(i)
The impact on the industry or industries in which the completed project will be
involved;
(ii) State fiscal
matters, including the state budget (revenues and expenses);
(iii) The financial
exposure of the taxpayers of the state under the plans for the proposed
project and negative foreseeable contingencies that
may arise therefrom;
(iv) The approximate
number of full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal, and/or
permanent jobs projected to be created, construction
and non-construction;
(v) Identification of
geographic sources of the staffing for identified jobs;
(vi) The projected
duration of the identified construction jobs;
(vii) The approximate
wage rates for each category of the identified jobs;
(viii) The types of
fringe benefits to be provided with the identified jobs, including
healthcare insurance and any retirement benefits;
(ix) The projected
fiscal impact on increased personal income taxes to the state of Rhode
Island; and
(x) The description of
any plan or process intended to stimulate hiring from the host
community, training of employees or potential
employees and outreach to minority job applicants
and minority businesses.
(b) With respect to the
uses described in section 42-64-3(18), (23), (30), (35), and (36)
and with respect to projects situated on federal
lands, the corporation shall not be required to
make the findings specified in subsection (a)(1)(i) of this section.
(c) Except for the
findings specified in subsections (a)(1)(iv) and (a)(1)(v) of this
section, the findings of the corporation made pursuant
to this section shall be binding and
conclusive for all purposes. Upon adoption by the corporation,
any such findings shall be
transmitted to the division of taxation, and shall be
made available to the public for inspection by
any person, and shall be published by the tax
administrator on the tax division website.
(d) The corporation
shall monitor every impact analysis it completes through the
duration of any project incentives. Such monitoring
shall include annual reports which shall be
transmitted to the division of taxation, and shall be
available to the public for inspection by any
person, and shall be published by the tax
administrator on the tax division website. The annual
reports on the impact analysis shall include:
(1) Actual versus
projected impact for all considered factors; and
(2) Verification of all
commitments made in consideration of state incentives or aid.
(e) Upon its
preparation and release of the analysis required by subsection (a)(2) of this
section, the corporation shall provide copies of that
analysis to the chairpersons of the house and
senate finance committees, the house and senate fiscal
advisors, the department of labor and
training and the division of taxation. Any such
analysis shall be available to the public for
inspection by any person and shall be published by the
tax administrator on the tax division
website. Annually thereafter, the department of labor
and training shall certify to the chairpersons
of the house and senate finance committees, the house
and senate fiscal advisors, the corporation
and the division of taxation that: (i) the actual number of new full-time jobs with benefits
created
by the project, not including construction jobs, is on
target to meet or exceed the estimated
number of new jobs identified in the analysis above,
and (ii) the actual number of existing full-
time jobs with benefits has not declined. This
certification shall no longer be required two (2) tax
years after the terms and conditions of both the
general assembly's joint resolution of approval
required by section 42-64-20.1 of this chapter and any
agreement between the corporation and the
project lessee have been satisfied. For purposes of
this section, "full-time jobs with benefits"
means jobs that require working a minimum of thirty
(30) hours per week within the state, with a
median wage that exceeds by five percent (5%) the
median annual wage for full-time jobs in
insurance plus other benefits typical of companies
within the project lessee's industry. The
department of labor and training shall also certify
annually to the chairpersons of the house and
senate finance committees, the house and senate fiscal
advisors, and the division of taxation that
jobs created by the project are "new jobs"
in the state of
employees of the project are in addition to, and
without a reduction in the number of, those
employees of the project lessee currently employed in
another facility of the project lessee in
lessee as the result of a merger or acquisition of a
company already located in
certifications made by the department of labor and
training shall be available to the public for
inspection by any person and shall be published by the
tax administrator on the tax division
website.
(f) The corporation,
with the assistance of the taxpayer, the department of labor and
training, the department of human services and the
division of taxation shall provide annually an
analysis of whether any of the employees of the
project lessee has received RIte Care or RIte
Share benefits and the impact such benefits or
assistance may have on the state budget. Any such
analysis shall be available to the public for
inspection by any person and shall be published by the
tax administrator on the tax division website.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule
or regulation, the division of taxation, the
department of labor and training and the department of
human services are authorized to present, review and
discuss lessee-specific tax or employment
information or data with the economic development commerce
corporation
(RIEDC)(RICC), the chairpersons of the house and senate finance
committees, and/or the house
and senate fiscal advisors for the purpose of
verification and compliance with this tax credit
reporting requirement.
(g) The corporation and
the project lessee shall agree that, if at any time prior to pay
back of the amount of the sales tax exemption through
new income tax collections over three (3)
years, not including construction job income taxes,
the project lessee will be unable to continue
the project, or otherwise defaults on its obligations
to the corporation, the project lessee shall be
liable to the state for all the sales tax benefits
granted to the project plus interest, as determined in
Rhode Island General Law section 44-1-7, calculated
from the date the project lessee received the
sales tax benefits.
(h) Any agreements or
contracts entered into by the corporation and the project lessee
shall be sent to the division of taxation and be
available to the public for inspection by any person
and shall be published by the tax administrator on the
tax division website.
(i)
By August 15th of each year the project lessee shall report the source and
amount of
any bonds, grants, loans, loan guarantees, matching
funds or tax credits received from any state
governmental entity, state agency or public agency as
defined in section 37-2-7 received during
the previous state fiscal year. This annual report
shall be sent to the division of taxation and be
available to the public for inspection by any person
and shall be published by the tax
administrator on the tax division website.
(j) By August 15th of
each year the division of taxation shall report the name, address,
and amount of sales tax benefit each project lessee
received during the previous state fiscal year
to the corporation, the chairpersons of the house and
senate finance committees, the house and
senate fiscal advisors, the department of labor and
training and the division of taxation. This
report shall be available to the public for inspection
by any person and shall be published by the
tax administrator on the tax division website.
(k) On or before
September 1, 2011, and every September 1 thereafter, the project lessee
shall file an annual report with the tax
administrator. Said report shall contain each full-time
equivalent, part-time or seasonal employee's name,
social security number, date of hire, and
hourly wage as of the immediately preceding July 1 and
such other information deemed necessary
by the tax administrator. The report shall be filed on
a form and in a manner prescribed by the tax
administrator.
42-64-11.
Disposition of projects. -- (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any
other
law, the economic development commerce
corporation may sell or lease to any
person, firm, partnership, or corporation, or to any
local redevelopment agency, or to any state or
federal agency or instrumentality, or to any
municipality or political subdivision of the state
empowered to enter into the sale or lease, any project
without public bidding or public sale, for
consideration and upon terms as may be agreed upon
between the corporation and the purchaser
or lessee; provided that in the case of a lease, the
term shall not exceed ninety-nine (99) years.
The sale or lease or agreement may be consummated as
entered into prior to, at the date of, or
subsequent to the acquisition of completion of the
project. Where a contract of sale or lease is
entered into prior to the completion of construction
of the project to be conveyed or leased, the
corporation may complete the project prior or
subsequent to the consummation of the sale or
lease.
(b) In connection with
the corporation's disposition by sale, lease, or otherwise of any of
its projects, the corporation is authorized to require
that the party acquiring the project, or any
interest therein or any right to use or occupy the
project, may not sell, assign, convey, lease,
sublease, or otherwise dispose of, in whole or in
part, its interest in the project or its right to use
and occupy the project without the approval, in
writing, of the corporation. The corporation may
not unreasonably withhold that approval; and shall
state the reason or reasons upon which that
withholding of approval is based. In determining
whether to grant or withhold that approval, the
corporation shall consider whether the proposed
disposition will further the purposes of this
chapter and may consider any and all other relevant
factors as well.
(c) The provisions of subsection
(b) shall not be deemed to limit in any manner the
corporation's authority in connection with the
disposition by sale, lease, or otherwise of any of its
projects or to impose those terms and conditions
permitted by law with respect to those
dispositions as it shall determine to be desirable.
(d) The corporation
shall dispose, by sale, lease, transfer or other agreement, of projects
on or related to former Navy lands in the town of
Development Corporation as provided for in chapter
64.10 of this title and may dispose, by sale,
lease, transfer or other agreement, of other projects
related to land and real estate development,
regardless of location in
mutually agreeable to the corporation and the Quonset
Development Corporation.
42-64-12.
Community advisory committees. -- (a) The Rhode Island economic
development commerce
corporation may establish one or more local or regional community
advisory committees to consider and advise the
corporation upon matters submitted to them by
the corporation concerning the development of any area
or any project, and may establish rules
and regulations with respect to those committees. The
community advisory committees shall
include, as members ex officio, the mayors of the
cities and the presidents of the town councils of
the cities and towns, respectively, situated in the
area with respect to which the community
advisory committees are established. Those members
shall serve at the pleasure of the corporation
and without salary, but shall be entitled to
reimbursement for their actual and necessary expenses
incurred in the performance of their duties.
(b) The corporation may
purchase from, sell to, borrow from, loan to, contract with, or
otherwise deal with any corporation, trust,
association, partnership, or other entity in which any
member of a community advisory committee has a
financial interest, direct or indirect, provided
that the interest is disclosed in the minutes of the
corporation.
(c) Notwithstanding any
provision of law, general, special, or local, no officer or
employee of the state or of any agency thereof shall
be deemed to have forfeited or shall forfeit
his or her office or employment by reason of his or
her acceptance of membership on a
community advisory committee.
42-64-13.
Relations with municipalities. -- (a) (1) With respect to projects
situated on
federal land, the economic development commerce
corporation is authorized to
plan, construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate, alter,
improve, develop, maintain, and operate projects:
(i) in conformity with the
applicable provisions of chapter 1 of title 2 except that the projects shall
not require the approval of a town or city council
provided for in section 2-1-21, and (ii) without
regard to the zoning or other land use ordinances,
codes, plans, or regulations of any municipality
or political subdivision; provided, however, that the
exemption from the zoning or other land use
ordinances, codes, plans, or regulations shall be
subject to the corporation's compliance with the
provisions of this subsection. Projects which are
planned, constructed, reconstructed,
rehabilitated, altered, improved, or developed by the
corporation on federal land in accordance
with the provisions of this subsection may be
maintained and operated by lessees from and
successors in interest to the corporation in the same
manner as if the projects had been in
existence prior to the enactment of the zoning or
other land use ordinances, codes, plans, or
regulations which, but for this chapter, would
otherwise be applicable.
(2) As used in this
section, "the comprehensive plan" means a comprehensive plan
adopted pursuant to chapter 22 of title 45 by a
planning board or commission; "the applicable
comprehensive plan" shall mean the comprehensive
plan of any municipality within which any
project is to be situated, in whole or in part; and
"the project plan" shall mean a general
description of a proposed project situated on federal
land, describing in reasonable detail its
location, nature, and size. A zoning ordinance adopted
by a municipality pursuant to chapter 24 of
title 45 shall not be deemed to be a comprehensive
plan nor a statement of the land use goals,
objectives, and standards.
(3) If any project plan
of the corporation with respect to projects situated on federal land
conforms to the land use goals, objectives, and
standards of the applicable comprehensive plan as
of the time of the corporation's adoption of the
project plan, or if there is no applicable
comprehensive plan, then before proceeding with the
project described in the project plan, the
corporation shall refer the project plan to the
appropriate community advisory committee which
may thereafter hold any public hearings as it may deem
to be desirable for the purpose of
permitting the public to comment on the project plan.
The community advisory committee shall
not later than forty-five (45) days after its receipt
of the project plan, transmit its comments on the
project plan, in either written or oral form, to the
corporation and thereupon, or upon the
community advisory committee's failure to take any
action within the time specified, the
corporation shall be authorized to proceed with the
project described in the project plan without
regard to the zoning or other land use ordinances,
codes, plans, or regulations of a municipality
within which the project is to be situated in whole or
in part.
(4) If any project plan
of the corporation with respect to projects situated on federal land
does not conform to the land use goals, objectives,
and standards of the applicable comprehensive
plan as of the time of the corporation's adoption of
the project plan, then, before proceeding with
the project described in the project plan, the
corporation shall refer the project plan to the local
governing body of any municipality within which any
project is to be situated, in whole or in part.
The local governing body may thereafter hold any
public hearings as it may deem to be desirable
for the purpose of permitting the public to comment on
the project plan. The local governing
body shall, not later than forty-five (45) days after
its receipt of the project plan, advise the
corporation of its approval or disapproval of that
plan. If it shall disapprove the project plan, the
corporation shall nevertheless be authorized to
proceed with the project described in the project
plan (without regard to the zoning or other land use
ordinances, codes, plans, or regulations of a
municipality within which the project is to be
situated in whole or in part) upon the subsequent
affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the
board of directors then holding office as
directors taken at a meeting open to the public. If
the local governing body approves the project
plan or fails to take any action within the time
specified, the corporation shall be authorized to
proceed with the project described in the project plan
without regard to the zoning or other land
use ordinances, codes, plans, or regulations of a
municipality within which the project is to be
situated in whole or in part.
(5) The project plan's
conformity with the applicable comprehensive plan shall be
determined by the board of directors of the
corporation and its determination shall be binding and
conclusive for all purposes.
(b) With respect to projects
situated on real property other than federal land, the
corporation shall plan, construct, reconstruct,
rehabilitate, alter, improve, develop, maintain, and
operate projects in conformity with the applicable
zoning or other land use ordinances, codes,
plans, or regulations of any municipality or political
subdivision of the state in which those
projects are situated.
(c) The corporation
shall, in planning, constructing, reconstructing, rehabilitating,
altering, or improving any project, comply with all
requirements of state and federal laws, codes,
or regulations applicable to that planning,
construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, alteration,
or improvement. The corporation shall adopt a
comprehensive building code (which may, but
need not be, the BOCA Code) with which all projects
shall comply. That adoption shall not
preclude the corporation's later adoption of a
different comprehensive building code or of its
alteration, amendment, or supplementation of any
comprehensive building code so adopted.
Except as otherwise specifically provided to the
contrary, no municipality or other political
subdivision of the state shall have the power to
modify or change in whole or in part the
drawings, plans, or specifications for any project of
the corporation; nor to require that any
person, firm, or corporation employed with respect to
that project perform work in any other or
different manner than that provided by those drawings,
plans, and specifications; nor to require
that any such person, firm, or corporation obtain any
approval, permit, or certificate from the
municipality or political subdivision in relation to
the project; and the doing of that work by any
person, firm, or corporation in accordance with the
terms of those drawings, plans, specifications,
or contracts shall not subject the person, firm, or
corporation to any liability or penalty, civil or
criminal, other than as may be stated in the contracts
or may be incidental to the proper
enforcement thereof; nor shall any municipality or
political subdivision have the power to require
the corporation, or any lessee or successor in
interest, to obtain any approval, permit, or
certificate from the municipality or political
subdivision as a condition of owning, using,
maintaining, operating, or occupying any project
acquired, constructed, reconstructed,
rehabilitated, altered, or improved by the corporation
or pursuant to drawings, plans, and
specifications made or approved by the corporation;
provided, however, that nothing contained in
this subsection shall be deemed to relieve any person,
firm, or corporation from the necessity of
obtaining from any municipality or other political
subdivision of the state any license which, but
for the provisions of this chapter, would be required
in connection with the rendering of personal
services or sale at retail of tangible personal
property.
(d) Except to the
extent that the corporation shall expressly otherwise agree, a
municipality or political subdivision, including, but
not limited to, a county, city, town, or district,
in which a project of the corporation is located,
shall provide for the project, whether then owned
by the corporation or any successor in interest,
police, fire, sanitation, health protection, and other
municipal services of the same character and to the
same extent as those provided for other
residents of that municipality or political
subdivision, but nothing contained in this section shall
be deemed to require any municipality or political
subdivision to make capital expenditures for
the sole purpose of providing any of these services
for that project.
(e) In carrying out a
project, the corporation shall be empowered to enter into contractual
agreements with municipalities and public corporations
and those municipalities and public
corporations are authorized and empowered,
notwithstanding any other law, to enter into any
contractual agreements with the corporation and to do
all things necessary to carry out their
obligations under the agreements.
(f) Notwithstanding the
provisions of any general, special, or local law or charter,
municipalities and public corporations are empowered
to purchase, or to lease for a term not
exceeding ninety-nine (99) years, projects of the
corporation, upon any terms and conditions as
may be agreed upon by the municipality or public
corporation and the corporation.
42-64-13.1.
Assistance to urban communities for economic revitalization. -- (a) The
economic development commerce
corporation shall, in furtherance of its
responsibility to assist urban communities, provide
for the establishment of an urban enterprise
equity fund, the establishment of an urban business
incubator, and such other programs and
activities as the corporation may deem appropriate to
assist with urban revitalization.
(b) For purposes of
this section, the following words and terms shall have the following
meanings:
(1) "Equity" shall
mean cash or cash equivalents, through personal or other assets that
are either pledged to or become part of a small
business venture. Equity constitutes resources that
are considered part of the balance sheet of the small
business.
(2) "Equity
Financing" shall be a loan from an institution, bank, non-bank or any
other
resource, by which terms and conditions are
established for repayment of the debt. For the
purposes of this legislation, "Equity
Financing" shall be deeply subordinated on the balance sheet
of the business, and by this deep subordination is
converted to equity on the balance sheet.
"Equity Financing" by virtue of its
subordination shall be the last loan to be paid out of the cash
flow of the business.
(3) "Fund"
shall mean a revolving loan fund used to provide equity to assist start-up and
existing businesses in securing resources from lenders
including, but not limited to, private sector
lending institutions, and federal and non-federal
public sector lenders.
(4) "Small
business" shall mean any corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, or
other business entity qualifying as "small"
under the standards contained in 13 CFR section 121.
(5) "Urban"
shall mean any community, which exceeds two thousand (2000) persons per
square mile as established by the most recent federal
census.
(c) Establishment of an
Urban
(1) (i) In order to provide "Equity Financing",
commonly referred to as either "Equity"
or "Equity Debt", to assist small businesses
finance investments, the general assembly establishes
the urban enterprise fund.
(ii) This fund will be
located at and administered by the economic development
corporation, referred to as the corporation,
hereinafter for the purposes of providing equity
financing to assist small businesses in obtaining
additional resources for capital investments.
Seventy-five percent (75%) of the fund financing shall
be targeted to urban small businesses
located in enterprise zones established pursuant to
chapter 64.3 of title 42. The corporation shall
be responsible for the establishment of "the
urban enterprise fund" and for the adoption of rules
and standards and guidelines, eligibility
qualifications, and performance measures for the fund.
Such rules shall limit the amount of equity financing
from the fund in any small business to an
amount not to exceed one hundred thousand ($100,000)
dollars and shall provide, inter alia that
the corporation be allowed to take stock, stock options,
stock warrants, equity or other ownership
interests in the small business to which it is
providing such Equity Financing.
(2) Nothing herein
provided with regard to equity and Equity Financing shall be deemed
to prevent or restrict the corporation or other
private lenders from providing additional financing
to the small business under traditional methods,
conventional financing with or without credit
enhancements for the purposes of fulfilling the
necessary instruments to finance the small
business.
(3) In the
implementation of the provisions of this paragraph, the corporation is
encouraged to utilize credit enhancements such as the
US Small Business Administration's (SBA)
Guaranteed Loan Program in conjunction with SBA's
participating lenders to make the small
business financing transactions in the best interest
of the Small Business.
(4) The corporation
will annually report the status and performance of the Urban
Enterprise Equity Fund to the general assembly on or
before the first Tuesday of November.
(d) (1) Establishment
of an Urban Business Incubator. - There is hereby authorized,
established, and created an urban business incubator
to be located in an enterprise zone, as
defined in chapter 64.3 of this title. The incubator
shall be designed to foster the growth of
businesses through a multi-tenant, mixed-use facility
serving companies in a variety of industries
including, but not limited to: services, distribution,
light manufacturing, or technology-based
businesses. The incubator shall provide a range of
services designed to assist these new
businesses, including, but not limited to: flexible
leases, shared office equipment, use of common
areas such as conference rooms, and will provide
(directly or indirectly) easily accessible
business management, training, financial, legal,
accounting, and marketing services.
(2) The incubator shall
be established as a non-business corporation, and shall have tax
exempt status under U.S. Internal Revenue Code section
501(c)(3), 26 U.S.C. section 501(c)(3),
and shall have an independent board of directors. The
board of directors, in consultation with the
corporations, shall adopt guidelines and performance
measures for the purposes of operating and
monitoring the incubator.
(e) The general
assembly shall annually appropriate the sums it deems necessary to carry
out the provisions of subsections (c) and (d) of this
section.
42-64-13.2.
Renewable energy investment coordination. -- (a) Intent. - To develop
an
integrated organizational structure to secure for
cost-effective renewable energy development from
diverse sources.
(b) Definitions. - For
purposes of this section, the following words and terms shall have
the meanings set forth in RIGL 42-64-3 unless this
section provides a different meaning. Within
this section, the following words and terms shall have
the following meanings:
(1)
"Corporation" means the economic development commerce
corporation.
(2)
"Municipality" means any city or town, or other political subdivision
of the state.
(3) "Office"
means the office of energy resources established by chapter 42-140.
(c) Renewable energy development
fund. - The corporation shall, in the furtherance of its
responsibilities to promote and encourage economic
development, establish and administer a
renewable energy development fund as provided for in
section 39-26-7, may exercise the powers
set forth in this chapter, as necessary or convenient
to accomplish this purpose, and shall provide
such administrative support as may be needed for the
coordinated administration of the renewable
energy standard as provided for in chapter 39-26 and
the renewable energy program established
by section 39-2-1.2. The corporation may upon the
request of any person undertaking a renewable
energy facility project, grant project status to the
project, and a renewable energy facility project,
which is given project status by the corporation,
shall be deemed an energy project of the
corporation.
(d) Duties. - The
corporation shall, with regards to renewable energy project investment:
(1) Establish by rule,
in consultation with the office, standards for financing renewable
energy projects from diverse sources.
(2) Enter into
agreements, consistent with this chapter and renewable energy investment
plans adopted by the office, to provide support to
renewable energy projects that meet applicable
standards established by the corporation. Said
agreements may include contracts with
municipalities and public corporations.
(e) Conduct of
activities.
(1) To the extent
reasonable and practical, the conduct of activities under the provisions
of this chapter shall be open and inclusive; the
director shall seek, in addressing the purposes of
this chapter, to involve the research and analytic
capacities of institutions of higher education
within the state, industry, advocacy groups, and regional
entities, and shall seek input from
stakeholders including, but not limited to,
residential and commercial energy users.
(2) By January 1, 2009,
the director shall adopt:
(A) Goals for renewable
energy facility investment which is beneficial, prudent, and
from diverse sources;
(B) A plan for a period
of five (5) years, annually upgraded as appropriate, to meet the
aforementioned goals; and
(C) Standards and
procedures for evaluating proposals for renewable energy projects in
order to determine the consistency of proposed
projects with the plan.
(f) Reporting. - On
March 1, of each year after the effective date of this chapter, the
corporation shall submit to the governor, the
president of the senate, the speaker of the house of
representatives, and the secretary of state, a
financial and performance report. These reports shall
be posted electronically on the general assembly and
the secretary of state's websites as
prescribed in section 42-20-8.2. The reports shall set
forth:
(1) The corporation's
receipts and expenditures in each of the renewable energy program
funds administered in accordance with this section.
(2) A listing of all
private consultants engaged by the corporation on a contract basis and
a statement of the total amount paid to each private
consultant from the two (2) renewable energy
funds administered in accordance with this chapter; a
listing of any staff supported by these
funds, and a summary of any clerical, administrative
or technical support received; and
(3) A summary of
performance during the prior year including accomplishments and
shortcomings; project investments, the
cost-effectiveness of renewable energy investments by the
corporation; and recommendations for improvement.
42-64-14.
Relations with state agencies. -- (a) In planning and carrying out
projects, the
economic development commerce
corporation shall conform to the applicable
provisions of the state guide plan as that plan may from
time to time be altered or amended. In
determining whether its proposed projects are in
conformity with the state guide plan, the
corporation and all persons dealing with it shall be
entitled to rely upon a written statement signed
by its chairperson or vice-chairperson of the state
planning council to the effect that the proposed
project conforms to the state guide plan. If the
corporation shall submit to the state planning
council a written request for this determination
accompanied by a general description of a
proposed project describing in reasonable detail its
location, nature, and size, and the state
planning council shall not within forty-five (45) days
after the receipt of this written request issue
its written statement to the effect that the proposed
project conforms or does not conform to the
state guide plan as the case may be, then conformity
of the proposed project with the state guide
plan shall be conclusively presumed. A written
statement issued by the state planning council to
the effect that a proposed project does not conform to
the state guide plan shall state the respects
in which conformity is lacking.
(b) In planning and
carrying out projects, the corporation shall conform to the applicable
provisions of chapter 23 of title 46.
(c) The corporation is
authorized and empowered to acquire and to dispose of real
property, subject to the provisions of this chapter,
without the necessity of obtaining the approval
of the state properties committee or otherwise complying
with the provisions of title 37.
42-64-15. Bonds
and notes of the corporation. -- (a) The Rhode Island economic
development commerce
corporation shall have the power and is authorized to issue from time to
time its negotiable bonds and notes in one or more
series in any principal amounts as in the
opinion of the corporation shall be necessary to
provide sufficient funds for achieving its
purposes, including the payment of interest on bonds
and notes of the corporation, the
establishment of reserves to secure those bonds and
notes (including the reserve funds created
pursuant to section 42-64-18), and the making of all
other expenditures of the corporation
incident to and necessary or convenient to carrying
out its corporate purposes and powers.
(b) All bonds and notes
issued by the corporation may be secured by the full faith and
credit of the corporation or may be payable solely out
of the revenues and receipts derived from
the lease, mortgage, or sale by the corporation of its
projects or of any part of its projects, or from
any other revenues or from repayment from any loans
made by the corporation with regard to any
of its projects or any part of its projects, all as
may be designated in the proceedings of the
corporation under which the bonds or notes shall be
authorized to be issued. The bonds and notes
may be executed and delivered by the corporation at
any time from time to time, may be in any
form and denominations and of any tenor and
maturities, and may be in bearer form or in
registered form, as to principal and interest or as to
principal alone, all as the corporation may
determine.
(c) Bonds may be
payable in any installments, and at times not exceeding fifty (50) years
from their date, as shall be determined by the
corporation.
(d) Except for notes
issued pursuant to section 42-64-16, notes, and any renewals, may
be payable in any installments and at any times not
exceeding ten (10) years from the date of the
original issue of the notes, as shall be determined by
the corporation.
(e) Bonds and notes may
be payable at any places, whether within or outside of the state,
may bear interest at any rate or rates payable at any
time or times and at any place or places and
evidenced in any manner, and may contain any
provisions not inconsistent with this section, all as
shall be provided in the proceedings of the
corporation under which they shall be authorized to be
issued.
(f) There may be
retained by provision made in the proceedings under which any bonds
or notes of the corporation are authorized to be
issued an option to redeem all or any part of these
bonds or notes, at any prices and upon any notice, and
on any further terms and conditions as
shall be set forth on the record of the proceedings
and on the face of the bonds or notes.
(g) Any bonds or notes
of the corporation may be sold from time to time at those prices,
at public or private sale, and in any manner as shall
be determined by the corporation, and the
corporation shall pay all expenses, premiums, and
commissions that it shall deem necessary or
advantageous in connection with the issuance and sale
of these bonds and notes.
(h) Moneys of the
corporation, including proceeds from the sale of bonds or notes, and
revenues, receipts and income from any of its projects
or mortgages, may be invested and
reinvested in any obligations, securities, and other
investments consistent with this section as
shall be specified in the resolutions under which the bonds
or notes are authorized.
(i)
Issuance by the corporation of one or more series of bonds or notes for one or
more
purposes shall not preclude it from issuing other
bonds or notes in connection with the same
project or any other project, but the proceedings whereunder any subsequent bonds or notes may
be issued shall recognize and protect a prior pledge
or mortgage made for a prior issue of bonds
or notes unless in the proceedings authorizing that
prior issue the right is reserved to issue
subsequent bonds or notes on a parity with that prior
issue.
(j) The corporation is
authorized to issue bonds or notes for the purpose of refunding its
bonds or notes then outstanding, including the payment
of any redemption premium and any
interest accrued or to accrue to the earliest or
subsequent date of redemption, purchase, or
maturity of the bonds or notes, and, if deemed
advisable by the corporation, for the additional
purpose of paying all or part of the cost of
acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, rehabilitating,
or improving any project, or the making of loans on
any project. The proceeds of bonds or notes
issued for the purpose of refunding outstanding bonds
or notes may be applied, in the discretion
of the corporation, to the purchase, retirement at
maturity, or redemption of the outstanding bonds
or notes either on their earliest or a subsequent
redemption date, and may, pending that
application, be placed in escrow. Those escrowed
proceeds may be invested and reinvested in
obligations of or guaranteed by the
secured or guaranteed by the state or the
any time or times as shall be appropriate to assure
the prompt payment, as to principal, interest,
and redemption premium, if any, of the outstanding
bonds or notes to be so refunded. The
interest, income and profits, if any, earned or
realized on the investment may also be applied to
the payment of the outstanding bonds or notes to be so
refunded. After the terms of the escrow
have been fully satisfied and carried out, any balance
of the proceeds and interest, income and
profits, if any, earned or realized on the investments
may be returned to the corporation for use by
it in furtherance of its purposes. The portion of the
proceeds of bonds or notes issued for the
additional purpose of paying all or part of the cost
of acquiring, constructing, reconstructing,
rehabilitating, developing, or improving any project,
or the making of loans on any project, may
be invested and reinvested in any obligations,
securities, and other investments consistent with
this section as shall be specified in the resolutions
under which those bonds or notes are
authorized and which shall mature not later than the
times when those proceeds will be needed for
those purposes. The interest, income and profits, if
any, earned or realized on those investments
may be applied to the payment of all parts of the
costs, or to the making of loans, or may be used
by the corporation otherwise in furtherance of its
purposes. All bonds or notes shall be issued and
secured and shall be subject to the provisions of this
chapter in the same manner and to the same
extent as any other bonds or notes issued pursuant to
this chapter.
(k) The directors, the
executive director of the corporation, and other persons executing
bonds or notes shall not be subject to personal
liability or accountability by reason of the issuance
of these bonds and notes.
(l) Bonds or notes may
be issued under the provisions of this chapter without obtaining
the consent of any department, division, commission,
board, body, bureau, or agency of the state,
and without any other proceedings or the happening of
any conditions or things other than those
proceedings, conditions, or things which are
specifically required by this chapter and by the
provisions of the resolution authorizing the issuance
of bonds or notes or the trust agreement
securing them.
(m) The corporation,
subject to any agreements with note holders or bondholders as may
then be in force, shall have power out of any funds
available therefor to purchase bonds or notes
of the corporation, which shall thereupon be cancelled,
at a price not exceeding:
(1) If the bonds or
notes are then redeemable, the redemption price then applicable plus
accrued interest to the next interest payment date; or
(2) If the bonds or
notes are not then redeemable, the redemption price applicable on the
earliest date that the bonds or notes become subject
to redemption, plus the interest that would
have accrued to that date.
(n) Whether or not the
bonds and notes are of a form and character as to be negotiable
instruments under the terms of the Rhode Island
Uniform Commercial Code, title 6A, the bonds
and notes are hereby made negotiable instruments
within the meaning of and for all the purposes
of the Rhode Island Uniform Commercial Code, subject
only to the provisions of the bonds and
notes for registration.
(o) If a director or
officer of the corporation whose signature appears on bonds, notes, or
coupons shall cease to be a director or officer before
the delivery of those bonds or notes, that
signature shall, nevertheless, be valid and sufficient
for all purposes, the same as if the director or
officer had remained in office until the delivery.
42-64-16.
Short-term notes. -- Money borrowed by the economic
development commerce
corporation for the purpose of providing temporary financing of a project
or projects or combination of projects pending the
issuance of bonds or other notes, shall be
evidenced by notes or other obligations. The principal
and interest of all notes or other obligations
of the corporation issued under the provisions of this
section shall be payable no later than the
fourth anniversary of the date of their issue, and
shall be payable from the following: (1) from the
proceeds of bonds subsequently issued; or (2) from the
proceeds of subsequent borrowings which
comply with the provisions hereof; or (3) from general
revenues of the corporation which may be
equal and proportionate with, but not superior to,
that securing bonds then outstanding or
subsequently issued. Notwithstanding any other
provisions of this chapter, all these notes shall be
deemed to be negotiable instruments under the laws of
the state of
the provisions for registration contained in those
laws. The notes or other obligations or any issue
of these shall be in a form and contain any other
provisions as the corporation may determine and
the notes or resolutions or proceedings authorizing
the notes or other obligations or any issue of
these may contain, in addition to any provisions,
conditions, covenants, or limitations authorized
by this chapter, any provisions, conditions,
covenants, or limitations which the corporation is
authorized to include in any resolution or resolutions
authorizing bonds or notes or in any trust
indenture relating to bonds or notes. The corporation
may issue the notes or other obligations in
any manner either publicly or privately on any terms
as it may determine to be in its best
interests. These notes or other obligations may be
issued under the provisions of this chapter
without obtaining the consent of any department,
division, commission, board, body, or agency of
the state, without any other proceedings or the
happening of any conditions or things other than
those proceedings, conditions, or things which are
specifically required by this chapter and by the
provisions and resolutions authorizing the issuance of
the notes or obligations.
42-64-17. Security
for bonds or notes. -- (a) The principal of and interest on any bonds
or notes issued by the economic development commerce
corporation may be
secured by a pledge of any revenues and receipts of
the corporation and may be secured by a
mortgage or other instrument covering all or any part
of one or more projects, including all or part
of any additions, improvements, extensions to, or
enlargements of projects thereafter made.
(b) Bonds or notes
issued for the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation,
development, or improvement of one or more projects
may also be secured by an assignment of
leases of, or mortgages on, or contracts of sale or
loan agreements with regard to the project or
projects and by an assignment of the revenues,
receipts, payments, or repayments derived by the
corporation from those leases, mortgages, sales
agreements, or loan agreements.
(c) The resolution
under which the bonds or notes are authorized to be issued and any
mortgage, lease, sales agreement, or loan agreement,
or other instrument may contain agreements
and provisions respecting the maintenance of the
projects covered thereby, the fixing and
collection of rents, payments or repayments or other
revenues, including moneys received in
repayment of loans, and interest on the loans, the
creation and maintenance of special funds from
rents or other revenues and the rights and remedies
available in the event of default, all as the
corporation shall deem advisable.
(d) Each pledge,
agreement, mortgage, or other instrument made for the benefit or
security of any of the bonds or notes of the
corporation shall be valid and binding from the time
the pledge is made and shall continue in effect until
the principal of and interest on the bonds or
notes for the benefit of which the pledge was made has
been fully paid, or until provision has
been made for the payment in the manner provided in
the resolutions under which those bonds or
notes were authorized. The revenues, moneys, or
property pledged by the corporation shall
immediately be subject to the lien of that pledge
without any physical delivery thereof or further
act, and the lien of the pledge shall be valid and
binding as against all parties having claims of
any kind in tort, contract, or otherwise against the
corporation, irrespective of whether the parties
have notice thereof. Neither the resolution nor any
other instrument by which a pledge is created
need be recorded.
(e) The corporation may
provide in any proceedings under which bonds or notes may be
authorized that any project or part of a project may
be constructed, reconstructed, rehabilitated, or
improved by the corporation, or any lessee, vendee,
obligor, or any designee of the corporation
and may also provide in those proceedings for the time
and manner of and requisitions for
disbursements to be made for the cost of the
construction, and for any certificates and approvals
of construction and disbursements that the corporation
shall deem necessary and provide for in
those proceedings.
(f) Any resolution
under which bonds or notes of the corporation are authorized to be
issued (and any trust indenture established thereby)
may contain provisions for vesting in a
trustee or trustees those properties, rights, powers,
and duties in trust that the corporation may
determine, including any or all of the rights, powers,
and duties of the trustee appointed by the
holders of any issue of bonds or notes pursuant to
section 42-64-25, in which event the provisions
of section 42-64-25 authorizing the appointment of a
trustee by holders of bonds or notes shall
not apply.
42-64-18. Reserve
funds and appropriations. -- To assure the continued operation and
solvency of the economic development commerce
corporation for the carrying out
of its corporate purposes:
(1) The corporation may
create and establish one or more special funds, "capital reserve
funds", and may pay into each capital reserve
fund: (i) any moneys appropriated and made
available by the state for the purpose of the fund;
(ii) proceeds from the sale of notes or bonds to
the extent provided in the resolution or resolutions
of the corporation authorizing the issuance
thereof; and (iii) any other moneys that may be made
available to the corporation for the purpose
of that fund from any other source. All moneys held in
a capital reserve fund, except as provided,
shall be used solely for the payment of the principal
of bonds secured in whole or in part by that
fund or of the sinking fund payments hereinafter
mentioned with respect to the bonds, the
purchase or redemption of the bonds, the payment of
interest on the bonds or the payment of any
redemption premium required to be paid when the bonds
are redeemed prior to maturity;
provided, that moneys in the fund shall not be
withdrawn (except for the purpose of making (with
respect to bonds secured in whole or in part by the
fund) payment when due of principal, interest,
redemption premiums, and the sinking fund payments
hereinafter mentioned, for the payment of
which other moneys of the corporation are not
available) if the withdrawal would reduce the
amount of the fund to less than the minimum capital
reserve requirement established for the fund
as provided in this section. Any income or interest
earned by, or incremental to, any capital
reserve fund due to the investment of the funds may be
transferred by the corporation to other
funds or accounts of the corporation if the transfer
would not reduce the amount of the capital
reserve fund below the minimum capital reserve fund
requirement for the fund;
(2) The corporation
shall not at any time issue bonds secured in whole or in part by a
capital reserve fund if, upon the issuance of the
bonds, the outstanding principal balance of such
bonds would exceed the sum of two hundred fifty
million dollars ($250,000,000), or the amount
of the capital reserve fund would be less than the
minimum capital reserve required for the fund,
unless the corporation, at the time of issuance of the
bonds, shall deposit in the fund from the
proceeds of the bonds to be issued, or from other
sources, an amount that, together with the
amount then in the fund, is not less than the minimum
capital reserve fund requirement for the
fund. For the purpose of this section, the term
"minimum capital reserve fund requirement"
means, as of any particular date of computation, an
amount of money, as provided in the
resolution or resolutions of the corporation
authorizing the bonds or notes with respect to which
the fund is established, equal to not more than the
greatest of the respective amounts, for the
current or any future fiscal year of the corporation,
of annual debt service on the bonds of the
corporation secured in whole or in part by the fund,
the annual debt service for any fiscal year
being the amount of money equal to the sum of: (i) the interest payable during the fiscal year on
all bonds secured in whole or in part by the fund
outstanding on the date of computation plus; (ii)
the principal amount of all the bonds and bond
anticipation notes outstanding on the date of
computation that mature during the fiscal year; plus
(iii) all amounts specified in any resolution of
the corporation authorizing the bonds as payable
during the fiscal year as a sinking fund payment
with respect to any of the bonds that mature after the
fiscal year, all calculated on the assumption
that the bonds will after the date of computation
cease to be outstanding by reason, but only by
reason, of the payment of bonds when due and
application in accordance with the resolution
authorizing those bonds of all of the sinking fund
payments payable at or after the date of
computation;
(3) In computing the
amount of the capital reserve funds for the purpose of this section,
securities in which all or a portion of the funds
shall be invested, shall be valued as provided in
the proceedings under which the bonds are authorized
but in no event shall be valued at a value
greater than par;
(4) In order further to
assure the continued operation and solvency of the corporation for
the carrying out of its corporate purposes, the
executive director shall annually, on or before
December first, make and deliver to the governor a
certificate stating the sum, if any, required to
restore each capital reserve fund to the minimum
capital reserve fund requirement for the fund.
During each January session of the general assembly,
the governor shall submit to the general
assembly printed copies of a budget including the
total of the sums, if any, as part of the
governor's budget required to restore each capital
reserve fund to the minimum capital reserve
fund requirement for the fund. All sums appropriated
by the general assembly for this purpose,
and paid to the corporation, if any, shall be
deposited by the corporation in the applicable capital
reserve fund;
(5) All amounts paid
over to the corporation by the state pursuant to the provisions of
this section shall constitute and be accounted for as
advances by the state to the corporation and,
subject to the rights of the holders of any bonds or
notes of the corporation issued before or after,
shall be repaid to the state without interest from all
available operating revenues of the
corporation in excess of amounts required for the
payment of bonds, notes, or other obligations of
the corporation, the capital reserve funds and
operating expenses;
(6) The corporation may
create and establish any other fund or funds as may be
necessary or desirable for its corporate purposes;
(7) The corporation may
by resolution permit the issuance of bonds and notes to carry
out the purposes of this chapter without establishing
a capital reserve fund pursuant to this section
and without complying with the limitations set forth
in this section. Bonds and notes issued
pursuant to this subdivision may be secured by any
other funds or methods as the corporation
may in its discretion determine by resolution. ;
(8) On or before
January 1 of each year, the economic development
commerce
corporation shall issue a report on all such bonds issued by the corporations.
The
report shall include at a minimum the following: a list
of each bond issued; the purpose of each
bond issued; the amount of each bond issued; the
amount of principal and interest of each bond
issued paid to date; the outstanding principal balance
of each bond issued; and the total
outstanding principal balance of all such bonds issued
subject to this section. The report shall be
transmitted to the chairpersons of the house and
senate finance committees, with copies to the
house and senate fiscal advisors.
42-64-19. Trust
funds. -- All moneys received pursuant to the authority of this
chapter,
whether as proceeds from the sale of bonds or notes or
as revenues, receipts, or income, and
moneys held by the economic development commerce
corporation in the tire site
remediation account established pursuant to section
23-63-4.1, shall be trust funds to be held and
applied solely as provided in the proceedings under
which the bonds or notes are authorized. Any
officer with whom or any bank or trust company with
which the moneys shall be deposited as
trustee shall hold and apply the moneys for the
purposes thereof, subject to the applicable
provisions of this chapter, the proceedings
authorizing the bonds or notes and the trust agreement
securing the bonds or notes, if any.
42-64-20.
Exemption from taxation. -- (a) The exercise of the powers granted by
this
chapter will be in all respects for the benefit of the
people of this state, the increase of their
commerce, welfare, and prosperity and for the
improvement of their health and living conditions
and will constitute the performance of an essential
governmental function and the corporation
shall not be required to pay any taxes or assessments
upon or in respect of any project or of any
property or moneys of the Rhode Island ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT COMMERCE
CORPORATION, levied by any municipality or political
subdivision of the state; provided, that
the corporation shall make payments in lieu of real
property taxes and assessments to
municipalities and political subdivisions with respect
to projects of the corporation located in the
municipalities and political subdivisions during those
times that the corporation derives revenue
from the lease or operation of the projects. Payments
in lieu of taxes shall be in amounts agreed
upon by the corporation and the affected
municipalities and political subdivisions. Failing the
agreement, the amounts of payments in lieu of taxes
shall be determined by the corporation using
a formula that shall reasonably ensure that the
amounts approximate the average amount of real
property taxes due throughout the state with respect
to facilities of a similar nature and size. Any
municipality or political subdivision is empowered to
accept at its option an amount of payments
in lieu of taxes less than that determined by the
corporation. If, pursuant to section 42-64-13(f),
the corporation shall have agreed with a municipality
or political subdivision that it shall not
provide all of the specified services, the payments in
lieu of taxes shall be reduced by the cost
incurred by the corporation or any other person in
providing the services not provided by the
municipality or political subdivision.
(b) The corporation
shall not be required to pay state taxes of any kind, and the
corporation, its projects, property, and moneys and,
except for estate, inheritance, and gift taxes,
any bonds or notes issued under the provisions of this
chapter and the income (including gain
from sale or exchange) from these shall at all times
be free from taxation of every kind by the
state and by the municipalities and all political
subdivisions of the state. The corporation shall not
be required to pay any transfer tax of any kind on
account of instruments recorded by it or on its
behalf.
(c) For purposes of the
exemption from taxes and assessments upon or in respect of any
project under subsections (a) or (b) of this section,
the corporation shall not be required to hold
legal title to any real or personal property,
including any fixtures, furnishings or equipment which
are acquired and used in the construction and
development of the project, but the legal title may
be held in the name of a lessee (including sublessees) from the corporation. This property, which
shall not include any goods or inventory used in the
project after completion of construction, shall
be exempt from taxation to the same extent as if legal
title of the property were in the name of the
corporation; provided that the board of directors of
the corporation adopts a resolution confirming
use of the tax exemption for the project by the
lessee. Such resolution shall not take effect until
thirty (30) days from passage. The resolution shall
include findings that: (1) the project is a
project of the corporation under section 42-64-3(20),
and (2) it is in the interest of the corporation
and of the project that legal title be held by the
lessee from the corporation. In adopting the
resolution, the board of directors may consider any factors
it deems relevant to the interests of the
corporation or the project including, for example, but
without limitation, reduction in potential
liability or costs to the corporation or designation
of the project as a "Project of Critical Economic
Concern" pursuant to Chapter 117 of this title.
(d) For purposes of the
exemption from taxes and assessments for any project of the
corporation held by a lessee of the corporation under
subsection (c) of this section, any such
project shall be subject to the following additional
requirements:
(1) The total sales tax
exemption benefit to the lessee will be implemented through a
reimbursement process as determined by the division of
taxation rather than an up-front purchase
exemption;
(2) The sales tax
benefits granted pursuant to RIGL 42-64-20(c) shall only apply to
project approved prior to July 1, 2011 and shall: (i) only apply to materials used in the
construction, reconstruction or rehabilitation of the
project and to the acquisition of furniture,
fixtures and equipment, except automobiles, trucks or
other motor vehicles, or materials that
otherwise are depreciable and have a useful life of
one year or more, for the project for a period
not to exceed six (6) months after receipt of a
certificate of occupancy for any given phase of the
project for which sales tax benefits are utilized; and
(ii) not exceed an amount equal to the income
tax revenue received by the state from the new
full-time jobs with benefits excluding project
construction jobs, generated by the project within a
period of three (3) years from after the receipt
of a certificate of occupancy for any given phase of
the project. "Full- time jobs with benefits"
means jobs that require working a minimum of thirty
(30) hours per week within the state, with a
median wage that exceeds by five percent (5%) the
median annual wage for the preceding year
for full-time jobs in
benefit package that is typical of companies within
the lessee's industry. The sales tax benefits
granted pursuant to
projects approved on or after July 1, 2011.
(3) The corporation
shall transmit the analysis required by RIGL 42-64-10(a)(2) to the
house and senate fiscal committee chairs, the
department of labor and training and the division of
taxation promptly upon completion. Annually
thereafter, the department of labor and training
shall certify to the house and senate fiscal committee
chairs, the house and senate fiscal advisors,
the corporation and the division of taxation the
actual number of new full-time jobs with benefits
created by the project, in addition to construction jobs,
and whether such new jobs are on target to
meet or exceed the estimated number of new jobs
identified in the analysis above. This
certification shall no longer be required when the
total amount of new income tax revenue
received by the state exceeds the amount of the sales
tax exemption benefit granted above.
(4) The department of
labor and training shall certify to the house and senate fiscal
committee chairs and the division of taxation that
jobs created by the project are "new jobs" in the
state of
reduction of, those employees of the lessee currently
employed in
from another facility of the lessee's in
the result of a merger or acquisition of a company
already located in
the corporation, with the assistance of the lessee,
the department of labor and training, the
department of human services and the division of
taxation shall provide annually an analysis of
whether any of the employees of the project qualify
for RIte Care or RIte Share
benefits and the
impact such benefits or assistance may have on the
state budget.
(5) Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the division of taxation, the department
of labor and training and the department of human
services are authorized to present, review and
discuss lessee specific tax or employment information
or data with the corporation, the house and
senate fiscal committee chairs, and/or the house and
senate fiscal advisors for the purpose of
verification and compliance with this resolution; and
(6) The corporation and
the project lessee shall agree that, if at any time prior to the state
recouping the amount of the sales tax exemption
through new income tax collections from the
project, not including construction job income taxes,
the lessee will be unable to continue the
project, or otherwise defaults on its obligations to
the corporation, the lessee shall be liable to the
state for all the sales tax benefits granted to the
project plus interest, as determined in RIGL 44-1-
7, calculated from the date the lessee received the
sales tax benefits.
42-64-21. Notes and
bonds as legal investments. -- The notes and bonds of the Rhode
Island economic development commerce
corporation are made securities in which all public
officers and bodies of this state and all
municipalities and municipal subdivisions, all insurance
companies and associations, and other persons carrying
on an insurance business, all banks,
bankers, trust companies, saving banks and saving
associations, including savings and loan
associations, building and loan associations,
investment companies, and other persons carrying on
a banking business, all administrators, guardians,
executors, trustees, and other fiduciaries, and all
other persons whatsoever who are now or may hereafter
be authorized to invest in bonds or other
obligations of the state, may properly and legally
invest funds, including capital, in their control
or belonging to them.
42-64-22.
Agreement of the state. -- The state does pledge to and agree with the
holders
of any bonds or notes issued under this chapter that
the state will not limit or alter the rights
vested in the economic development commerce
corporation to fulfill the terms of
any agreements made with the holders until the bonds
or notes, together with the interest on these
bonds and notes, with interest on any unpaid
installments of interest, and all costs and expenses in
connection with any action or proceeding by or on
behalf of the holders, are fully met and
discharged. The corporation is authorized to include
this pledge and agreement of the state in any
agreement with the holders of the bonds or notes.
42-64-23. Credit
of state. -- (a) Obligations issued under the provisions of this
chapter,
except those obligations secured by mortgages which
are insured by the industrial building
authority, shall not constitute a debt, liability or
obligation of the state or of any political
subdivision of the state other than the economic
development commerce
corporation or a pledge of the faith and credit of the
state or any political subdivision other than
the corporation but shall be payable solely from the
revenues or assets of the corporation. Each
obligation issued under this chapter, except those
obligations secured by mortgages which are
insured by the industrial building authority, shall
contain on its face a statement to the effect that
the corporation shall not be obligated to pay the
obligation or interest on the obligation except
from revenues or assets pledged therefor
and that neither the faith and credit nor the taking power
of the state or any political subdivision of the state
other than the corporation is pledged to the
payment of the principal of or the interest on the
obligation.
(b) Obligations issued
under the provisions of this chapter which are secured by
mortgages insured by the industrial building
authority, in addition to being payable from the
revenues or assets of the corporation, shall be
secured by a pledge of the faith and credit of the
state consistent with the terms and limitations of
chapter 34 of this title.
42-64-25. Remedies
of bondholders and note-holders. -- (a) In the event that the Rhode
Island economic development commerce
corporation shall default in the payment of principal of
or interest on any bonds or notes issued under this
chapter after the bonds or notes shall become
due, whether at maturity or upon call for redemption,
and the default shall continue for a period
of thirty (30) days, or in the event that the corporation
shall fail or refuse to comply with the
provisions of this chapter, or shall default in any
agreement made with the holders of an issue of
bonds or notes of the corporation the holders of
twenty-five percent (25%) in aggregate principal
amount of the bonds or notes of an issue then
outstanding, by instrument or instruments filed in
the office of the secretary of state and proved or
acknowledged in the same manner as a deed to
be recorded, may appoint a trustee to represent the
holders of the bonds or notes for the purposes
provided in this section.
(b) The trustee may,
and upon written request of the holders of twenty-five percent
(25%) in principal amount of the bonds or notes then
outstanding shall, in the trustee's own name:
(1) Enforce all rights
of the bondholders or note-holders, including the right to require
the corporation to collect rent, interest repayments
and payments on the leases, mortgages, loan
agreements and sales agreements held by it adequate to
carry out any agreement as to, or pledge
of, rent, interest repayments and payments, and to
require the corporation to carry out any other
agreements with the holders of the bonds or notes and
to perform its duties under this chapter;
(2) Enforce all rights
of the bondholders or note-holders so as to carry out any contract
as to, or pledge of, revenues, and to require the
corporation to carry out and perform the terms of
any contract with the holders of its bonds or notes or
its duties under the chapter;
(3) Bring suit upon all
or any part of the bonds or notes;
(4) By action or suit,
require the corporation to account as if it were the trustee of an
express trust for the holders of the bonds or notes;
(5) By action or suit,
enjoin any acts or things which may be unlawful or in violation of
the rights of the holders of the bonds or notes;
(6) Declare all the
bonds or notes due and payable and, if all defaults shall be made
good, then, with the consent of the holders of
twenty-five percent (25%) of the principal amount
of the bonds or notes then outstanding, to annul the
declaration and its consequences.
(c) The trustee shall,
in addition to the foregoing, have and possess all the powers
necessary or appropriate for the exercise of any
functions specifically set forth in this section or
incident to the general representation of bondholders
or note-holders in the enforcement and
protection of their rights.
(d) Before declaring
the principal of bonds or notes due and payable, the trustee shall
first give thirty (30) days' notice, in writing, to
the governor of the state and to the corporation.
(e) The superior court
of
proceeding by the trustee on behalf of bondholders or
note-holders.
42-64-26.
Authorization to accept appropriated moneys. -- The
economic development commerce corporation is authorized to accept any moneys as may
be
appropriated from time to time by the general assembly
for effectuating its corporate purposes
including, without limitation, the payment of the
initial expenses of administration and operation
and the establishment of reserves or contingency funds
to be available for the payment of the
principal of and the interest on any bonds, notes or
other obligations of the corporation.
42-64-27.
Assistance by state officers, departments, boards and commission. --
(a)
All state agencies may render any services to the economic
development commerce
corporation within their respective functions as may
be requested by the corporation.
(b) Upon request of the
corporation, any state agency is authorized and empowered to
transfer to the corporation any officers and employees
as it may deem necessary from time to
time to assist the corporation in carrying out its
functions and duties under this chapter. Officers
and employees so transferred shall not lose their
civil service status or rights.
42-64-28. Annual financial
reports and performance report. -- (a) The board shall
approve and the economic development commerce
corporation shall submit to the
governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of
the house of representatives, and the
secretary of state, within eleven (11) months after
the close of its fiscal year, complete and
detailed financial reports and a performance report.
These reports shall cover the corporation and
its subsidiaries and shall be posted electronically on
the general assembly and the secretary of
state's websites as prescribed in section 42-20-8.1.
(b) The financial
reports shall set forth the corporation's:
(1) Operations;
(2) Receipts and
expenditures during the fiscal year in accordance with the categories
and classifications established by the corporation for
its operating and capital outlay purposes
including a listing of all private consultants engaged
by the corporation on a contract basis and a
statement of the total amount paid to each private
consultant, a listing of any staff supported by
these funds, and a summary of any clerical,
administrative or technical support received;
(3) Assets and
liabilities at the end of its fiscal year including a schedule of its leases
and
mortgages and the status of the reserve, special or
other funds;
(4) Schedule of the
bonds and notes outstanding at the end of its fiscal year together with
a statement of amounts redeemed and incurred during
the fiscal year;
(5) The reports shall
be prepared by independent certified public accountants in
accordance with generally accepted principles of
accounting.
(c) The performance
report shall include:
(1) A summary of
performance during the previous fiscal year including
accomplishments, shortcomings in general and relative
to plan, and actions to be taken to remedy
such shortcomings;
(2) For all board
meetings and public hearings held by the corporation: the subjects
addressed, decisions rendered, actions considered and
their disposition; and, the minutes of these
meetings and hearings if requested by the governor,
the president of the senate, the speaker of the
house of representatives, or the secretary of state;
(3) Rules or regulations
promulgated by the board or corporation, a summary of studies
conducted, policies and plans developed, approved, or
modified, and programs administered,
initiated or terminated;
(4) A synopsis of
hearings, complaints, suspensions, or other legal matters related to the
authority of the board or corporation;
(5) A summary of any
training courses held pursuant to subdivision 42-64-8(a)(4);
(6) A briefing on
anticipated plans and activities in the upcoming fiscal year; and
findings and recommendations for improvements. ;
(7) Compliance with
the reporting requirements of the general laws.
(d) The director of the
department of administration shall be responsible for the
enforcement of the provisions of this section.
42-64-29.
Inventory of development sites. -- (a) The Rhode Island economic
development commerce
corporation, in coordination with the statewide planning program, shall
maintain an inventory of potential sites for
development and act as a clearinghouse for investors
and businesses that want to expand or locate in
(b) Further, the
corporation, in coordination with
or regional development agencies, shall promote the
re-use of abandoned and distressed industrial
properties in the State, specifically those designated
as brownfields and certified mill buildings.
(c) The corporation
shall create a program of marketing for underutilized or abandoned
sites as identified by the department of environmental
management in section 23-19-14.5(d).
(d) The corporation
shall, in cooperation with the department of environmental
management, assist prospective Brownfield
redevelopment developers in identifying and securing
public and private funding sources for Brownfield
redevelopment projects.
42-64-31. Other
statutes. -- Nothing contained in this chapter shall restrict or limit
the
powers of the economic development commerce
corporation arising under any laws
of this state except where those powers are expressly
contrary to the provisions of this chapter;
provided, however, that the corporation shall not have
any power to create, empower or otherwise
establish any corporation, subsidiary corporation,
corporate body, any form of partnership, or any
other separate entity, without the express approval
and authorization of the general assembly.
Except as otherwise provided, this chapter shall be
construed to provide a complete additional
and alternative method for doing the things authorized
hereby and shall be regarded as
supplemental and in addition to the powers conferred
by other laws. The issuance of all bonds,
notes, and other obligations of the corporation under
the provisions of this chapter need not
comply with the requirements of any other statute
applicable to the issuance of bonds, notes and
obligations, and contracts for the construction and
acquisition of any project undertaken pursuant
to this chapter need not comply with any provision of
any other state law applicable to contracts
for the construction and acquisition of state owned
property, except that the provisions of section
37-13-1 et seq. (prevailing wage); section 37-16-2 et
seq. (public works arbitration); and section
37-12-1 et seq. (contractors' bonds) for the
construction and acquisition of state or municipally
owned property shall be applicable. No proceedings or
notice of approval shall be required for the
issuance of any bonds, notes, and other obligations or
any instrument of security except as
provided in this chapter.
42-64-34.
Appointment of small business advocate. -- (a) The director of the
Rhode
Island economic development commerce
corporation shall appoint a staff person to serve as the
small business advocate.
(b) The small business
advocate shall:
(1) Identify and convey
specific concerns raised by small business in providing notice to
the state agency proposing the regulation;
(2) Inform businesses
regarding proposed regulation that may have a significant adverse
economic impact; and
(3) Formulate policies
and procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of this title.
(c) The small business
advocate may request from any government agency, and the
agency is authorized and directed to provide, any
cooperation and assistance, services, and data as
will enable the small business advocate to properly
perform or exercise any of his or her
functions, duties, and powers under this chapter.
SECTION
4. Section 42-64.3-3.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-64.3 entitled
"Distressed Areas
Economic Revitalization Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:
42-64.3-3.1.
Enterprise zone council. -- (a) There is created within the
economic development commerce corporation the "enterprise zone council,"
which shall consist
of five (5) members to be appointed by the governor;
one member shall be the executive director
of the economic development commerce corporation;
one member shall represent
the urban league of
and Towns; and two (2) members from the general
public. The governor shall designate one
member to serve as chairperson of the enterprise zone
council.
(b) The members shall
be appointed for terms of five (5) years each; provided, however,
of the members originally appointed, one shall be
appointed for a term of one year, one shall be
appointed for a term of two (2) years, one shall be
appointed for a term of three (3) years, one
shall be appointed for a term of four (4) years and
one shall be appointed for a term of five (5)
years.
(c) In carrying out its
powers and duties under this chapter, the council shall utilize the
staffs and resources of the division of statewide
planning and the
development corporation. Those agencies and other
departments and agencies of state
government shall cooperate with the council in
carrying out its mandate under this chapter.
(d) The council shall
promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement the intent
of this chapter.
(e) Transfer of
functions from the
enterprise zone council. – All functions formerly
administered by the
development corporation's enterprise zone council are
hereby transferred to the
commerce corporation.
SECTION
5. Chapter 42-64 of the General Laws entitled "Rhode Island Economic
Development
Corporation" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following sections:
42-64-8.2. Role
and responsibilities of board members. – (a) Board members of the
corporation shall:
(1) Execute direct
oversight of the corporation in the effective and ethical management of
the corporation;
(2) Understand,
review, and monitor the implementation of fundamental financial and
management controls and operational decisions of the
corporation;
(3) Adopt a code of ethics
applicable to each officer, director and employee of the
corporation that, at a minimum, includes the standards
established in chapter 36-14 ("Code of
Ethics");
(4) Adopt a mission
statement expressing the purpose and goals of the corporation, a
description of the stakeholders of the corporation and
their reasonable expectations from the
corporation;
(5) Adopt and
periodically update an indemnification policy which shall be set forth in
the bylaws of the corporation; and
(6) Perform each of
their duties as board members, including, but not limited to, those
imposed by this section, in good faith and with that
degree of diligence, care, and skill which an
ordinarily prudent person in like position would use
under similar circumstances and ultimately
apply independent judgment in the best interest of the
corporation, its mission, and the public.
(b) Board members of
the corporation shall establish and maintain written policies and
procedures for the following:
(1) Internal
accounting and administrative controls in accordance with the provisions of
chapter 35-20 ("Public Corporation Financial
Integrity and Accountability Act of 1995");
(2) Travel, including
lodging, meals, and incidental expenses, provided that no
reimbursement shall exceed the allowable state
employee reimbursement amount per day;
(3) Charitable and
civic donations and/or contributions; provided, however, that all such
donations or contributions shall be voted by the full board
during an open meeting and the vote
shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting,
together with:
(i)
The citation to the specific state statute authorizing the action;
(ii) An explanation
of how the donation or contribution relates to the mission of the
corporation;
(iii) The identity of
any board member or employee of the corporation that will receive
any benefit from the donation or contribution;
(iv) Any disclosure
required by chapter 36-14 ("Code of Ethics"); and
(v) Each such
donation or contribution shall be clearly identified in the financial
statements of the corporation.
(4) Credit card use,
provided, that pursuant to section 35-20-10, no credit card shall be
used for personal use;
(5) Employee reimbursement,
including requests by management for business expenses,
and expenses classified as gifts or entertainment;
(6) Personnel,
including hiring, dismissing, promoting, and compensating employees of
the corporation, and provided that no employee of the
corporation shall be compensated for sick,
vacation, or other leave time to an extent greater
than state employees;
(7) Severance pay;
(8) Marketing
expenses; and
(9) Lobbyists'
expenses.
(c) The written
policies and procedures required by this section and any additional
written policies and procedures that the board may
adopt shall be approved by the board during
an open meeting and the vote shall be recorded in the
minutes of the meeting.
42-64-8.3.
Transparency requirements established. – The following records
deemed
public under chapter 38-2 shall be available to the
public upon request and posted directly on the
website of the corporation:
(1) Job descriptions
of the executive director and management;
(2) Employment
contracts of the executive director and management;
(3) Quarterly
financial statements produced in accordance with § 35-3-17.1;
(4) Capital
improvement plans;
(5) Operating
budgets;
(6) Strategic plans;
(7) Agendas and
minutes of the open meetings of the board of the corporation and the
boards of the corporation's subsidiaries, provided,
however, that this provision shall not apply to
the Quonset development corporation, the
redevelopment district and the
(8) Quarterly
reporting required by section 42-90-1;
(9) All regulations
of the corporation;
(10) Enabling
legislation;
(11) Mission
statement as required by subdivision 42-64-8.2(a)(4);
(12) Board members;
(13) Organizational
chart;
(14) Bylaws of the
corporation; and
(15) All reports and
audits required by this chapter.
42-64-31.1. Rules
and regulations. – When issuing rules and regulations or any
amendments to rules and regulations or when adopting
bylaws or amendments to bylaws, the
corporation shall be subject to the provisions of
chapter 42-35 ("Administrative Procedures").
42-64-36. Program
accountability. -- The board of the
corporation shall be responsible for establishing
accountability standards, reporting standards and
outcome measurements for each of its programs to
include, but not be limited to, the use of tax
credits, loans, loan guarantees and other financial
transactions managed or utilized by the
corporation. Included in the standards shall be a set
of principles and guidelines to be followed by
the board to include:
(1) A set of outcomes
against which the board will measure each program's and offering's
effectiveness;
(2) A set of
standards for risk analysis for all of the programs especially the loans and
loan guarantee programs; and
(3) A process for reporting
out all loans, loan guarantees and any other financial
commitments made through the corporation that includes
the purpose of the loan, financial data
as to payment history and other related information.
The board shall
annually prepare a report starting in January 2015 which shall be
submitted to the house and senate. The report shall
summarize the above listed information on
each of its programs and offerings and contain
recommendations for modification, elimination or
continuation.
The board shall
coordinate its efforts with the office of revenue to not duplicate
information on the use of tax credits and other tax
expenditures.
42-64-37. Loan and
loan guarantee programs. – (a) The board shall establish by
January, 2014 a risk management program for all loans,
loan guarantees and all other financial
commitments into which the corporation enters. The
program shall be established in conjunction
with the state's banking regulators and shall consist
of at least the following components:
(1) A set of
principles and guidelines for providing any financial commitments to be
made by the corporation; and
(2) A public process
for providing financial commitments to include the formation of a
sub-committee of the board to review, analyze and
approve all commitments. This process shall
include the formation of a sub-committee that consists
of members of the board and other non-
board members that shall have no affiliation with the
corporation or with the organization seeking
the financial commitment. The board shall appoint the
non-board members. No employee of the
corporation shall be a member of the sub-committee.
The sub-committee shall be required to
approve or reject the financial commitment in
accordance with the set of principles established by
the board.
(b) The board shall
approve in public session all financial commitments after the sub-
committee has rendered its opinion regarding the
commitment. The board shall opine that the
commitment meets the principles and guidelines
established by the board.
(c) The board shall
annually audit and provide a risk analysis of all outstanding financial
commitments. The board shall engage an external firm
qualified to conduct such analysis and
shall submit the report to the general assembly,
chairs of the house finance committee and the
senate finance committee.
(d) The board shall
establish a monitoring process for each financial commitment which
shall be a part of the risk analysis report.
(e) The board shall
review the risk analysis report and make modifications to the financial
commitment as it deems necessary.
42-64-38. Audit of
the corporation. – (a) Commencing July 1, 2014, and every five (5)
years thereafter, the corporation shall be subject to
a performance audit, conducted in compliance
with the generally accepted governmental auditing
standards, by the bureau of audits or a
certified public accounting firm qualified in
performance audits.
(b) If the audit is
not directly performed by his or her office, the selection of the auditor
and the scope of the audit shall be subject to the
approval of the chief of the bureau of audits.
(c) The audit
shall be conducted in conformance with subsections 35-7-3(b) through (d).
(d) The results of
the audit shall be made public upon completion, posted on the websites
of the bureau of audits and the corporation.
(e) The corporation
shall be responsible for all costs associated with the audit.
SECTION
6. This act shall take on January 1, 2014.
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LC02350/SUB A
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