House bill funds incentives but leaves out crowd-funding
Commerce Secretary John Skvarla on Tuesday pitched his ideas for spurring economic growth in the state, including a plea for more economic incentive funding. A House bill would give the administration more incentives money but leaves out a crowd-funding measure.
Posted — UpdatedHouse Bill 117, the N.C. Competes Act, would put $45 million into what has been known as the JDIG program, which gives back to companies a portion of what they would have paid in payroll taxes. The measure renames the program "Job Growth Reimbursement."
However, the measure does not include a crowd-funding provision nor a historic redevelopment tax credit sought by Gov. Pat McCrory's administration.
House Speaker Tim Moore said the crowd-funding measure may show up in another bill but that it was holding up the drafting of the current bill, which both McCrory and Commerce Secretary John Skvarla have said is urgently needed.
"That actually caused about a week delay in the bill," Moore, R-Cleveland, said of the crowd-funding component. "There's still debate on the language. So, in consultation with the bill sponsors, they said just pull it out and run it as a separate bill. We don't want to see the economic development bill held up over that one component."
Both McCrory and Skvarla have made the case that North Carolina is at a competitive disadvantage with others states in terms of landing a "big fish," particularly an automaker or other manufacturer. That's because the state has all but used up its existing economic development programs that provide incentives to companies to relocate.
So, a new $45 million infusion into incentive grants is likely welcome news, although snow-throttled sessions have meant the bill is moving much more slowly than McCrory had hoped.
While there is opposition to incentive expansion in both chambers, the most stringent opposition is believed to be in the Senate.
"In my humble opinion, it is absolutely necessary that we give some motivation and some incentive to people to restore those downtowns," Skvarla told senators.
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