Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 13 - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT › Part V - Office of the Secretary › Chapter 2 - Governor's Economic Development Rapid Response Program › Section V-205 - General Principles

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. The
				following general principles will direct the administration of the Governor's
				Economic Development Rapid Response Program .
1. Awards are not to be construed as an
				entitlement for companies locating or located in Louisiana, and the secretary
				and governor have the sole discretion to determine whether or not each
				particular business entity or application meets the criteria for the award as
				provided herein, and in all such circumstances, the exercise of that discretion
				shall be deemed to be a final determination of a company's award
				status.
2. The economic benefit of
				the award to the state must equal or exceed the value of the award to the
				recipient.
3. The immediate nature
				of the award, and the competitive circumstances, as well as the need for and
				the immediate use of the funds through a grant, loan or loan guaranty pursuant
				to the award must reasonably be expected to be a significant factor in a
				company's location, investment, retention and/or expansion decisions.
4. The award agreements entered into pursuant
				to this program shall reflect a commitment by the recipient of the award for
				the creation and/or retention of jobs, their compensation or payroll levels,
				and other economic consequences as represented in the application for the
				award, and shall include such provisions as will protect the state's investment
				in the award in the event that the recipient of the award fails to meet its
				representations.
5. The state
				anticipates negotiating with each company seeking an award based on the
				individual merits of each project, with the goal of seeking the best return on
				investment for the state's citizens over the longest possible period of
				time.
6. Awards shall be
				administered or overseen by or under the supervision of the LED.
7. Contracts for awards will contain
				"clawback" (or refund) provisions to protect the state in the event of a
				default. In the event a company or public entity fails to timely start or to
				proceed with and/or complete its project, or fails to timely meet its
				performance objectives and/or any employment requirements, including but not
				limited to the retention or creation of the number of jobs or the reaching or
				maintaining of compensation or payroll levels within the time and for the term
				agreed, as specified in its award agreement with LED, any such acts, omissions
				or failures shall constitute a default under the award agreement, and LED shall
				retain all rights to withhold award funds, modify the terms and conditions of
				the award, and to reclaim disbursed funds from the company and/or public entity
				in an amount commensurate with the scope of the unmet performance objectives
				and the foregone benefits to the state. Reclamation shall not begin unless LED
				has determined, after an analysis of the benefits of the project to the state
				and the unmet performance objectives, that the state has not satisfactorily or
				adequately recouped its costs through the benefits provided by the
				project.