AN ACT to eliminate the public records laws and open meetings laws requirements applicable to a nonprofit corporation with which the Department of Commerce contracts for economic development purposes.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 143B‑431.01 reads as rewritten:

§ 143B‑431.01.  Department of Commerce – contracting of functions.

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(h)        Applicable Laws. – A North Carolina nonprofit corporation with which the Department contracts pursuant to this section is subject to the requirements of (i) Chapter 132 of the General Statutes and (ii) Article 33C of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes. Officers, employees, and members of the governing board of the a North Carolina nonprofit corporation with which the Department contracts pursuant to this section are public servants, as defined in 138A‑3, and are subject to the requirements of Chapter 138A of the General Statutes. Employees of the corporation whose annual compensation is less than eighty thousand dollars ($80,000) are not subject to G.S. 138A‑22.

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SECTION 2.  G.S. 132‑6(d) reads as rewritten:

(d)      Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, public records relating to the proposed expansion or location of specific business or industrial projects may be withheld so long as their inspection, examination or copying would frustrate the purpose for which such public records were created; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed to permit the withholding of public records relating to general economic development policies or activities. Once the State, a local government, or the specific business has announced a commitment by the business to expand or locate a specific project in this State or the business has made a final decision not to do so, of which the State or local government agency involved with the project knows or should know, the provisions of this subsection allowing public records to be withheld by the agency no longer apply. Once the provisions of this subsection no longer apply, the agency shall disclose as soon as practicable, and within 25 business days, public records requested for the announced project that are not otherwise made confidential by law. An announcement that a business or industrial project has committed to expand or locate in the State shall not require disclosure of local government records relating to the project if the business has not selected a specific location within the State for the project. Once a specific location for the project has been determined, local government records must be disclosed, upon request, in accordance with the provisions of this section. For purposes of this section, local government records include records maintained by the State that relate to a local government's efforts to attract the project.

Records relating to the proposed expansion or location of specific business or industrial projects that are in the custody of the Department of Commerce or an entity with which the Department contracts pursuant to G.S. 143B‑431.01 shall be treated as follows:

(1)        Unless controlled by another subdivision of this subsection, the records may be withheld if their inspection, examination, or copying would frustrate the purpose for which the records were created.

(2)        If no discretionary incentives pursuant to Chapter 143B of the General Statutes are requested for a project and if the specific business decides to expand or locate the project in the State, project, then the records relating to the project shall not be disclosed.

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SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.