NASHVILLE - Corporations given generous infrastructure and tax incentives by Tennessee must make good on their job-creation promises under a Haslam administration bill.
House members today approved the bill on a 96-0 vote. It will, for the first time, impose "clawback" provisions intended to grab back taxpayer money if companies don't perform as officials said they would.
Senators are expected to consider the bill this evening as lawmakers scramble to finish their annual legislative session.
The bill also aims at standardizing tax credits and other incentives and making them more available to in-state companies wishing to expand. Under the Bredesen administration, such incentives generated huge benefits for Southeast Tennessee with the recruitment of Volkswagen, Wacker Chemical and Amazon.
"Over the years, we've fashioned incentives to address market demands and attract specific industries or companies," House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, who handled the bill, told colleagues. "This bill is a start toward providing more clarity, consistency and predictability across the board.
"A very important part of it is there are clawback provisions in here so that, if we give these incentives away and the companies don't live up to what they felt like they would be able to do, they would not continue to be able to receive the tax credits," he said.
For complete details, see tomorrow's Times Free Press.