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Senate advances large GOED code rewrite; sponsors cite recodification and alignment
Summary
Senate Bill 18 combines and reorganizes disparate statutory provisions related to the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) — including tax credits, incentives, programs and rural development chapters — into one coherent code section; senator sponsors said the work is primarily recodification, but members asked about added planning authority and a provision referencing bond authority.
Senator Osman described SB 18 as a broad recodification and alignment of GOED-related code, consolidating material on incentives, tax credits, economic development programs, rural development, film incentives, and venture-capital enhancement into a single organized statutory chapter to improve clarity and future maintainability.
Sponsor and staff emphasized that most of the bill is code realignment, not a material policy shift; they said the changes were prepared in coordination with GOED, the Attorney General’s Office, and legislative counsel. During floor questions Senator Weiler asked about the addition of an explicit "economic development planning" purpose in the bill and about a new provision that appears to authorize the office to issue bonds from a small-business issue bond account. Osman said he would provide more detail before third reading and suggested some questions could be handled in off-line, technical briefings.
The bill’s sponsor waived summation and moved SB 18 for third reading. The Senate recorded a roll-call and the clerk announced SB 18 had received 29 yea votes, 0 nay votes.
Senators were advised the bill is large and detailed; sponsor commitments to follow up on planning authority and bond provisions indicate technical Q&A will continue through committee and executive-branch engagement.
