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2012 -- H 8203 | |
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LC02648 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
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IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
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JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2012 | |
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H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N | |
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RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR AND THE RHODE ISLAND | |
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION TO IMMEDIATELY RELEASE ALL | |
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RECORDS RELATED TO 38 STUDIOS AND ITS FINANCIAL SITUATION AND | |
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SEVENTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLAR LOAN GUARANTEE | |
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Introduced By: Representatives Lima, Watson, Messier, Palumbo, and Tomasso | |
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Date Introduced: May 24, 2012 | |
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Referred To: House Finance | |
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WHEREAS, On July 26, 2010, the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation |
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(EDC) Board approved a seventy-five million dollar loan guarantee for 38 Studios LLC, a video |
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game company founded by retired Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling; and |
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WHEREAS, Under the terms of the deal, Rhode Island issued seventy-five million |
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dollars in revenue bonds, purchased by private investors. As part of the agreement, the company |
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promised to relocate to Rhode Island and bring 450 jobs to the state by the end of 2012; and |
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WHEREAS, The loan guarantee includes a provision to set aside about twenty million |
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dollars in reserve to assure three years of debt payments; and |
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WHEREAS, In November of 2011, the Rhode Island Economic Development |
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Corporation sold seventy-five million dollars in bonds, consistent with the agreement. Although |
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38 Studios is primarily responsible for repaying the bonds, the State of Rhode Island has |
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guaranteed them, which means that should the company fail between now and 2020, state |
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taxpayers will be asked to pay off the principal and interest due on those bonds. That same |
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month, the State of Rhode Island paid 38 Studios the final payment due under the loan guarantee; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, A recent loan guarantee payment of $1.125 million was not made, an act |
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which may put the company into some default and which calls into question its financial health; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, It is imperative to protect taxpayer dollars and provide transparent scrutiny |
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of all financial records related to the EDC-backed, publicly-funded loan guarantee; now, therefore |
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be it |
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RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and |
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Providence Plantations hereby requests the Governor and the Board of the Rhode Island |
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Economic Development Corporation to immediately release all records related to 38 Studios’ |
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financial situation and its seventy-five million dollar loan guarantee; and be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to |
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transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Honorable Governor Lincoln Chafee and |
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Keith Stokes, the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. |
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LC02648 | |
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