A. The Quality Investment Committee shall meet not less than once per quarter and consider applications for Quality Investment Contracts from at-risk establishments. The Committee shall review each application received since its last meeting and consider for each application economic impacts, historical contributions trends and tax revenue projections analyses conducted by or on behalf of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce; whether the establishment is located in an economically distressed area of the state; whether loss of the establishment would cause the local community to become an economically distressed area; the number of jobs of Oklahoma citizens which are at risk; and the average salary of the jobs which are at risk.
B. Based on its review of applications, the Committee shall make recommendations to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate as to which applications for investment contracts should be approved and the percentage of investment the state should make as an incentive payment to the at-risk establishment for those contracts which are approved. In making such recommendations, the Committee shall not make recommendations for Quality Investment Contracts which could require payments in any year in excess of the amount allowed by the Oklahoma Quality Investment Act or the provisions of Section 23 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution.
C. The Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall meet as often as is necessary to consider recommendations of the Quality Investment Committee. The Governor shall schedule and chair such meetings. Quality Investment Contracts shall only be entered into upon the unanimous approval by the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate of the terms of the contract. A decision on recommendations of the Quality Investment Committee shall be made within thirty (30) days of receipt of such recommendations.
D. For any fiscal year, the incentives shall not exceed ten percent (10%) of the amount invested by an establishment in capital assets to be utilized in this state. The contract shall make payment of any incentives in any fiscal year contingent on the balance at the beginning of such fiscal year in the Constitutional Reserve Fund being equal to or greater than Eighty Million Dollars ($80,000,000.00) and on the certification by the State Board of Equalization for such fiscal year General Revenue Fund being greater than that of the preceding fiscal year certification. Investment contracts authorized by this act shall provide that if any incentive payment is payable during a fiscal year in which either the balance at the beginning of the fiscal year in the Constitutional Reserve Fund is not equal to or greater than Eighty Million Dollars ($80,000,000.00) or when the certification by the State Board of Equalization for such fiscal year General Revenue Fund is less than that of the immediately prior fiscal year certification, then any incentive payments which would have been payable during such fiscal year shall be payable in the first fiscal year when funds are available pursuant to the provisions of division 1 of subparagraph (b) of paragraph 6 of Section 23 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution. In the event that the amount of incentives due in any year under investment contracts authorized by this subsection is less than the amounts available for payment under this subsection in such year, then incentives payments for such year shall be reduced pro rata.
Added by Laws 2006, c. 1, § 6, eff. July 1, 2007, following passage of State Question No. 725 (SB 755, Laws 2005, c. 239) on Nov. 7, 2006.