HB514 Alabama 2010 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Patricia Todd

Democrat

Session

Regular Session 2010

Title

Economic Development and Fiscal Accountability Act, Revenue Department to report to Legislature regarding yearly economic development expenditures, economic development subsidies through Economic and Community Affairs Department, defaults on development subsidies, civil actions

Summary

This bill creates broad rules for tracking and regulating economic development subsidies in Alabama, including public reporting, performance requirements, penalties for default, and public enforcement options.

What This Bill Does

It requires the Department of Revenue to file annual reports on economic development expenditures and for property-taxing entities to report tax abatements and foregone revenue. It allows subsidies to be applied for through the Department of Economic and Community Affairs, with required progress reports from subsidy recipients and potential penalties or civil action for noncompliance. It sets wage, job creation, and health care requirements, imposes a cap on cost per job, and provides ways to recapture or void subsidies if performance targets aren’t met, along with public disclosure of data.

Who It Affects

• Granting bodies and recipient corporations (and their corporate parents): must apply for subsidies, provide detailed project and employment data, meet wage/healthcare requirements, and face monitoring, penalties, or recapture if targets are not met.
• Property-taxing entities and Alabama taxpayers: must report tax abatements and foregone revenue; late reporting can trigger withholding of subsidies and the data become publicly accessible.

Key Provisions

• Establishes the Alabama Economic Development and Fiscal Accountability Act and requires public reporting of economic development expenditures and tax expenditures by state agencies (Sections 2-4).
• Requires property-taxing entities to annually report real property abatements and foregone tax revenue to the Department of Revenue and provides for publication of this data (Section 5).
• Allows subsidies to be applied for through the Department of Economic and Community Affairs and requires grant progress reports, monitoring, and penalties for noncompliance, including civil actions for enforcement (Sections 6-7, 10).
• Defines key terms (subsidy, grantor, recipient, development subsidy, etc.) and sets wage, job creation, and health care data requirements in subsidy applications (Section 3).
• Imposes a cap on cost per job ($35,000) and requires certain wage thresholds for subsidies, with higher thresholds for non-small businesses and lower thresholds for small businesses, along with health care provisions (Section 8).
• Provides for recapture of subsidies if job creation, wage, or health and other benefit goals are not met, requires notice and repayment, and allows voiding the subsidy after consecutive defaults (Section 9).
• Gives taxpayers and the public the right to seek enforcement through civil action and requires open records for all related documents (Sections 10-11).
• Ensures data collected under the act is available in written and electronic form, with annual and two-year progress reports, and public posting by the Department of Economic and Community Affairs (Sections 7-7, 9, 11).
• Effective date: immediate after passage and Governor's approval (Section 14).

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 25, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Economic Development