Bill 844

                    Current Status

Bill Number:                    844
Type of Legislation:            General Bill GB
Introducing Body:               Senate
Introduced Date:                19980114
Primary Sponsor:                Courson 
All Sponsors:                   Courson, Leventis, Reese,
                                Washington and Short
Drafted Document Number:        res1519.jec
Residing Body:                  House
Current Committee:              Labor, Commerce and Industry
                                Committee 26 HLCI
Date of Last Amendment:         19980429
Subject:                        Jobs Economic Development
                                Authority, confidential information,
                                loan or grant approval; Businesses and
                                Corporations

Body    Date      Action Description                       Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  _______________________________________  _______ ____________

House   19980505  Introduced, read first time,             26 HLCI
                  referred to Committee
Senate  19980430  Read third time, sent to House
Senate  19980429  Read second time
Senate  19980429  Committee amendment adopted
Senate  19980212  Committee report: Favorable with         12 SLCI
                  amendment
Senate  19980114  Introduced, read first time,             12 SLCI
                  referred to Committee
Senate  19971117  Prefiled, referred to Committee          12 SLCI

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ADOPTED

April 29, 1998

S. 844

Introduced by Senators Courson, Leventis, Reese, Washington and Short

S. Printed 4/29/98--S.

Read the first time January 14, 1998.

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 41-43-250 OF THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PROTECTION OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION SUBMITTED TO OR COMPILED BY THE JOBS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, SO AS TO SPECIFY WHEN AND UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES INFORMATION IS DEEMED TO BE CONFIDENTIAL; TO REQUIRE THE AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE THE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE OR THE HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE WITH ANY MATERIAL IT MAY REQUEST REGARDING A LOAN OR GRANT; AND TO REQUIRE FINAL APPROVAL BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR LOANS INITIALLY APPROVED BY THE AUTHORITY THAT ARE GUARANTEED BY THE STATE.

Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 41-43-250 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 41-43-250. (A) Any information submitted to or compiled by the authority, including any analysis or review conducted by the authority or any third party in connection with the identity, background, finances, marketing plans, trade secrets, or any other commercially sensitive information of persons, firms, associations, partnerships, agencies, corporations, or other entities, is confidential, except to the extent that the person or entity consents to disclosure until final approval of the loan or grant, except that information exempt from disclosure pursuant to Section 30-4-40 must remain confidential and exempt from disclosure. When the applicant submits information to the authority, the applicant shall clearly mark the information to be protected as 'confidential'. Upon request, the authority must release or make available for inspection all information or material relating to the loan or grant as provided in subsection (B). The authority may impose a reasonable fee for the cost of copying documents and, if the requestor wishes to inspect any material, the authority may impose reasonable restrictions to minimize disruptions to normal office operations. For purposes of this section, the definition of 'authority' includes any profit or nonprofit entity established by the authority.

(B) The authority must provide the Senate Finance Committee or the House Ways and Means Committee with any material it may request regarding a loan or grant. The respective committees shall determine the procedure by which a request is to be made. If the material being requested is exempt from public disclosure pursuant to Section 30-4-40, the authority must provide the protected material conspicuously marked as confidential. A person, excluding the applicant and including a member of the General Assembly, staff of the authority or staff of the General Assembly, who knowingly discloses the contents of a document identified as confidential to a third party, is, upon conviction, guilty of a criminal offense and is subject to the penalties provided in Section 8-13-725(B)(2). For purposes of this subsection, a 'third party' is defined as anyone other than a member of the General Assembly, staff of the authority or staff of the General Assembly.

(C) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a loan initially approved by the authority or a loan to be administered by the authority is not valid without the final approval of the General Assembly if:

(1) default by the borrower would have the effect or potential effect of reducing the availability of future federal grants or loan funds to political subdivisions of the State that are not a party to the loan; or

(2) default would cause the repayment of principal or interest from state funds, from federal funds, or from other funds as defined in Section 2-65-15.

(D) The loan must be approved as submitted to the General Assembly and final approval required by this section is only effective upon the adoption of a bill or a joint resolution."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.