HB679 Summary

• Proposes a constitutional amendment authorizing the state to use public funds to purchase, lease, or acquire real property, buildings, plants, factories, machinery, and equipment for industrial development and industrial park projects.

• Grants the state authority to lease, sell, or convey industrial properties and facilities to individuals, firms, corporations, or business entities, public or private, for constructing and operating industrial, commercial, research, or service facilities.

• Allows the state to lend its credit or grant public funds to any business entity, public or private, for the purpose of creating jobs and promoting economic and industrial development.

• Exempts the state and its entities from specified constitutional and statutory restrictions (including Sections 93, 99, 211, and 212 of the Alabama Constitution and certain provisions of the Code of Alabama 1975) when carrying out the amendment's purposes.

• Requires State Industrial Development Authority approval and seven days' public notice before the state can lend credit or grant funds to private entities, with the state making a written determination that the expenditure serves a valid public purpose.