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Key Economic Development Bill Passes Legislature with Strong Bipartisan Votes

Lawmakers passed the state budget last week, but important legislation impacting North Carolina’s competitiveness remained in play for lawmakers today. This morning, the House passed the Conference Report for House Bill 117, which contains a suite of key economic development tools not included as part of the budget. The bill earned strong bipartisan votes from both legislative chambers, including a unanimous vote in the Senate yesterday. It will now move to Governor McCrory’s desk for his consideration and anticipated signature before the end of the week.

House Bill 117 provides an economic development toolkit that would match the offerings from the competition, including a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program fully funded at $20 million a year. New provisions in the bill would add flexibility to JDIG, allowing the state to contribute more money to the program to support additional growth in any year that a company meeting certain thresholds for investment and job creation chooses to locate in North Carolina. Rounding out this package, House Bill 117 would also extend priority investments for existing businesses by retaining the datacenter tax credit and competitive fuel taxes for aviation companies.

The North Carolina Chamber commends the House and Senate for working to advance this priority growth issue in 2015, and we encourage the Governor to support North Carolina’s continued competitiveness by signing House Bill 117 into law.

Gary J. Salamido
Vice President, Government Affairs
North Carolina Chamber