143B-437.54. Economic Investment Committee established.

(a) Membership. - The Economic Investment Committee is established. The Committee consists of the following members:

(1) The Secretary of Commerce.

(2) The Secretary of Revenue.

(3) The Director of the Office of State Budget and Management.

(4) One member appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(5) One member appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

The members of the Committee appointed by the General Assembly may not be members of the General Assembly. The members of the Committee appointed by the General Assembly serve two-year terms that begin upon appointment.

(b) Decision Required. - The Committee may act only upon a decision of three of its five members.

(c) Conflict of Interest. - It is unlawful for a current or former member of the Committee to, while serving on the Committee or within two years after the end of service on the Committee, provide services for compensation, as an employee, consultant, or otherwise, to any business or a related member of the business that is awarded a grant under this Part or under G.S. 143B-437.02 while the member is serving on the Committee. Violation of this subsection is a Class 1 misdemeanor. In addition to the penalties imposed under G.S. 15A-1340.23, the court shall also make a finding as to what compensation was received by the defendant for services in violation of this section and shall order the defendant to forfeit that compensation.

If a person is convicted under this section, the person shall not provide services for compensation, as an employee, consultant, or otherwise, to any business or a related member of the business that was awarded a grant under this Part or under G.S. 143B-437.02 while the member was serving on the Committee until two years after the person's conviction under this section.

(d) Public Notice. - At least 20 days before the effective date of any criteria or nontechnical amendments to criteria, the Committee must publish the proposed criteria on the Department of Commerce's web site and provide notice to persons who have requested notice of proposed criteria. In addition, the Committee must accept oral and written comments on the proposed criteria during the 15 business days beginning on the first day that the Committee has completed these notifications. For the purpose of this subsection, a technical amendment is either of the following:

(1) An amendment that corrects a spelling or grammatical error.

(2) An amendment that makes a clarification based on public comment and could have been anticipated by the public notice that immediately preceded the public comment.

(e) Sunshine. - Meetings of the Committee are subject to the open meetings requirements of Article 33C of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes. All documents of the Committee, including applications for grants, are public records governed by Chapter 132 of the General Statutes and any applicable provisions of the General Statutes protecting confidential information.