Republican leaders on Capitol Hill say they’re still working out the details of a stalled piece of legislation that would keep secret certain information collected from businesses seeking millions in tax incentives from the state.
The Haslam administration-backed bill, SB2207, would expand the amount of due diligence information – such as corporate financial statements and ownership information – the state receives, but also keep that information confidential.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey told reporters Thursday that the lingering issue is mitigating the concerns of open-government advocates as well as business interests.
“Where is that balance?” he said. “That sweet spot, to make sure that we get the information that we’re supposed to get and need to get and should get – and some of it should be confidential, because of proprietary information – yet what should not have to be confidential.”
“This is all up in the air, right now, is the bottom line,” he added.
House Speaker Beth Harwell said her chamber will take action on the bill next week, likely after the Senate. Like Ramsey, she said the issue is finding balance.
4 replies on “GOP Tops Talk of ECD Confidentiality Balancing Act”
[…] Some issues are dicey to make public, Williams admits, like luring businesses to release more insider information in order to help the state gain a better understanding of a business it wants to give taxpayer dollars to, such as the governor is proposing this year. […]
[…] info will help them make better decisions, but the bill’s hit a major snag. Lawmakers are now behind the scenes working out the sticking point: whether businesses should have to publicly reveal the owners of the […]
[…] info will help them make better decisions, but the bill’s hit a major snag. Lawmakers are now behind the scenes working out the sticking point: whether businesses should have to publicly reveal the owners of the […]
[…] the measure was trip upped when lawmakers, including Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, said information about who owns companies actually winning […]