We Can Only Wonder How the Deal was Done

RALEIGH -- Wasn't this supposed to be a new era of openness and transparency in state government? Well, at least when it comes to the sacred cow of economic development deals, the shroud of secrecy is as thick as ever.

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy of handing out huge financial incentives is as prevalent in the Perdue administration as it was in the good old days of Gov. Mike Easley.

Case in point is the pending final passage by the General Assembly of a rewrite of the state corporate tax formula to provide "an unnamed large corporation", supposedly Apple, with millions in tax breaks solely for its benefit. (The merits and constitutionality of such legislation require a separate discussion.)

Once again our legislative leaders are being asked to pass legislation providing an enormous tax break favoring a single corporation without providing the rank and file members of the legislature, the press or the public any specifics about the proposed deal.

Is it too much to ask that the details of these breaks be made public in advance of the passage of such legislation so a real debate on the merits could take place?

While the secrecy detailing the actual beneficiary of this largess and the circumstances of the deal is unsettling, perhaps the most egregious aspect of all is the secrecy surrounding what influential lobbyists and/or lawyers are representing this unnamed corporation.

Somewhere in the halls of the Department of Commerce and the General Assembly, representatives of this corporation are likely plying their trade and attempting to extract the maximum amount of incentives and tax breaks for their client. So who are these lobbyists and lawyers?

Sorry. Despite recent lobbying reforms, the public is not entitled to know. Who they are and what they're paid are secret.

Under the lobbying laws passed by the General Assembly, the secretary of state must adopt rules to "protect from disclosure" all confidential information related to "economic development initiatives or to industrial or business recruitment activities." The information remains confidential until a final decision is made on the project. So it would seem logical then that as soon as this deal is done, the public can find out who was representing our unnamed corporation. Wrong!

The rules enacted further enhance the secrecy of all of this by stating that "the previously confidential economic development information" can only be released when the "principal" (that's the unnamed corporation) or "an authorized government official" says it's OK. The corporation isn't going to release that information and previous efforts to get relevant information in similar deals have been stonewalled by government officials.

Commerce says talk to Revenue. Revenue says talk to Commerce. The Fiscal Research Division of the General Assembly says it's a secret because it involves information about a corporation's tax status.

The bottom line is that they don't want the public to know the details and who got the deal done.

As a result, the lobbyists and/or lawyers walk away with huge fees for "services rendered" and the unnamed corporation walks away with a huge tax break that only it gets. Public revenues are depleted by the deal and longtime corporate citizens of the state continue to pay taxes under a more punitive tax formula. And the inside story of how the deal got done continues to be hidden from public view.