S 844 Session 112 (1997-1998)
S 0844 General Bill, By Courson, Leventis, Reese, Short and Washington
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.
11/17/97 Senate Prefiled
11/17/97 Senate Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry
01/14/98 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-9
01/14/98 Senate Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and
Industry SJ-9
02/12/98 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment Labor,
Commerce and Industry SJ-9
04/29/98 Senate Amended SJ-46
04/29/98 Senate Read second time SJ-46
04/30/98 Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-28
05/05/98 House Introduced and read first time HJ-8
05/05/98 House Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and
Industry HJ-8
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.
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