Chapter 244

2010 -- H 7460 SUBSTITUTE A

Enacted 06/29/10

 

A N A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

          

     Introduced By: Representatives Serpa, Ruggiero, Williams, Walsh, and Shallcross

                               Smith

     Date Introduced: February 11, 2010

 

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

 

     

     SECTION 1. Section 42-64-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-64 entitled "Rhode

Island Economic Development Corporation" is hereby amended to read as follows:

 

     42-64-8. Directors, officers, and employees. -- (a) The powers of the Rhode Island

economic development corporation shall be vested in a board of directors consisting of thirteen

(13) members.

      (1) The governor shall serve as a member of the board and as chairperson, ex-officio,

who shall vote only in the event of a tie.

      (2) In addition to the governor, the membership of the board shall consist of twelve (12)

public members to be appointed by the governor.

      (3) Each gubernatorial appointee shall be subject to the advice and consent of the senate

and no one shall be eligible for appointment unless he or she is a resident of this state. The

membership of the board shall reflect the geographic diversity of the state. Four (4) of the public

members shall be owners or principals of small businesses doing business in this state which are

independently owned and operated and which employs one hundred (100) or fewer persons. One

of the public members shall serve as small business ombudsperson, and shall be an owner or

principal of a small business doing business and located in this state, that is independently owned

and operated and not dominant in its field, and that employs one hundred (100) or fewer persons

at the time of his or her appointment. The small business ombudsperson shall advocate all action

as Directors that may be necessary and proper to maintain and encourage the continued viability

of small businesses in the state. One other of the public members shall be a representative of

organized labor. One other of the public members shall be a representative of higher education.

One other of the public members shall be appointed on an interim basis by the governor when a

project plan of the corporation situated on federal land is disapproved by the governing body of a

municipality in accordance with section 42-64-13(a)(4). The member shall be the mayor of the

municipality within whose borders all or a majority of the project plan is to be carried out, or in a

municipality, which has no mayor, the member shall be the president of the town or city council.

The appointed interim member shall have all the powers of other members of the board only in its

deliberations and action on the disapproval of the project plan situated on federal land and within

the borders of his or her municipality. Upon final action by the board pursuant to section 42-64-

13(a)(5), the interim member's term of appointment shall automatically terminate.

      (4) It shall be the responsibility of the corporation to conduct a training course for newly

appointed and qualified members and new designees of ex-officio members within six (6) months

of their qualification or designation. The course shall be developed by the executive director of

the corporation or his or her designee, be approved by the board, and conducted by the executive

director or his or her designee. The board may approve the use of any board or staff members or

other individuals to assist with training. The training course shall include instruction in the

following areas: the provisions of the entirety of chapter 64 of this title and of chapters 46 of this

title, 14 of title 36, and 2 of title 38 of the Rhode Island general laws; and the board's rules and

regulations. The director of the department of administration shall, within ninety (90) days of July

15, 2005, prepare and disseminate materials relating to the provisions of chapters 46 of this title,

14 of title 36, and 2 of title 38.

      (5) Members of the board shall be removable by the governor, pursuant to the provisions

of section 36-1-7 and for cause only, and removal solely for partisan or personal reasons

unrelated to capacity or fitness for the office shall be unlawful.

      (6) The five (5) current members of the board of directors who were duly appointed and

who have unexpired terms shall continue as directors of the corporation until February 1, 2010,

and thereafter until their successors are appointed and qualified. Upon passage of this act, the

governor shall appoint seven (7) members to the board, with terms expiring as follows: three (3)

members shall have terms expiring on February 1, 2011; three (3) members shall have terms

expiring on February 1, 2012; and one member shall have a term expiring on February 1, 2013. In

January 2010, the governor shall appoint five (5) members to the board with terms expiring as

follows: two (2) members shall have terms expiring on February 1, 2013 and three (3) members

shall have terms expiring on February 1, 2014. Beginning in 2011 and annually thereafter, during

the month of January, the governor shall appoint a member or members to succeed the member or

members whose terms will then next expire to serve for a term of four (4) years commencing on

the first day of February and then next following, and thereafter until the successors are appointed

and qualified. Beginning in 2011 and annually thereafter the governor shall appoint owners or

principals of small businesses doing business in this state which are independently owned and

operated, and which employs one hundred (100) or fewer persons. The members of the board

shall be eligible to succeed themselves, but only upon reappointment and with senate advice and

consent.

      (7) In the event of a vacancy occurring in the office of a member by death, resignation or

otherwise, that vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as an original appointment, but only for

the remainder of the term of the former member.

      (b) The directors shall receive no compensation for the performance of their duties under

this chapter, but each director shall be reimbursed for his or her reasonable expenses incurred in

carrying out those duties. A director may engage in private employment, or in a profession or

business.

      (c) The chairperson shall designate a vice chairperson from among the members of the

board who shall serve at the pleasure of the chairperson. A majority of directors holding office

shall constitute a quorum, and, except as otherwise provided in section 42-64-13, any action to be

taken by the corporation under the provisions of this chapter may be authorized by resolution

approved by a majority of the directors present and entitled to vote at any regular or special

meeting at which a quorum is present. A vacancy in the membership of the board of directors

shall not impair the right of a quorum to exercise all of the rights and perform all of the duties of

the corporation.

      (d) The chief executive officer of the corporation shall be executive director of the

corporation, appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. The executive

director shall hold office for the term of three (3) years from the time of his or her appointment

and until his or her successor is duly appointed and qualified. The director shall be eligible for

reappointment, and shall not engage in any other occupation. The executive director of the

corporation shall be entitled to receive for his or her services any reasonable compensation as the

board of directors may determine.

      (e) The board of directors shall appoint a secretary and such additional officers and staff

members as they shall deem appropriate and shall determine the amount of reasonable

compensation, if any, each shall receive. The board of directors may vest in the executive

director, or the director's subordinates, the authority to appoint additional staff members and to

determine the amount of compensation each individual shall receive.

      (f) No full-time employee shall during the period of his or her employment by the

corporation engage in any other private employment, profession or business, except with the

approval of the board of directors.

      (g) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, it shall not be or constitute a conflict

of interest for a director, officer, or employee of any financial institution, investment banking

firm, brokerage firm, commercial bank, trust company, building-loan association, architecture

firm, insurance company, or any other firm, person, or corporation to serve as a director of the

corporation, nor shall any contract or transaction between the corporation and a financial

institution, investment banking firm, brokerage firm, commercial bank, trust company, building-

loan association, architecture firm, insurance company, or other firm, person, or corporation be

void or voidable by reason of that service as director of the corporation. If any director, officer, or

employee of the corporation shall be interested either directly or indirectly, or shall be a director,

officer, or employee of or have an ownership interest (other than as the owner of less than one

percent (1%) of the shares of a publicly-held corporation) in any firm or corporation interested

directly or indirectly in any contract with the corporation, that interest shall be disclosed to the

corporation and set forth in the minutes of the corporation, and the director, officer, or employee

having that ownership interest shall not participate on behalf of the corporation in the

authorization of that contract. Interested directors may be counted in determining the presence of

a quorum at a meeting of the board of directors of the corporation, which authorizes the contract

or transaction.

      (h) Any action taken by the corporation under the provisions of this chapter may be

authorized by vote at any regular or special meeting, and each vote shall take effect immediately.

All meetings shall be open to the public and all records shall be a matter of public record except

that if a majority of the board of directors decides that it would be in the best interests of the

corporation and the state to hold an executive session in private, then the board of directors is

authorized to transact any business it deems necessary at that executive session in private, and the

record of the executive session shall not become a matter of public record until the transaction

discussed has in the opinion of the board of directors been completed.

      (i) The board of directors may designate from among its members an executive

committee and one or more other committees each of which, to the extent authorized by the board

of directors, shall have and may exercise all of the authority of the board of directors, but no

executive committee shall have the authority of the board of directors in reference to the

disposition of all or substantially all of the property and assets of the corporation, amending the

by-laws of the corporation, exercising the condemnation power conferred upon the corporation by

section 42-64-9 or taking actions described or referred to in section 42-64-13(a).

      (j) Any action required by this chapter to be taken at a meeting of the board of directors,

or any action which may be taken at a meeting of the board of directors, or committee of the

board of directors, may be taken without a meeting if a consent in writing, setting forth the action

to be taken, shall be signed before or after that action by all of the directors, or all of the members

of the committee, as the case may be.

      (k) Employees of the corporation shall not, by reason of their employment, be deemed to

be employees of the state for any purpose, any other provision of the general laws to the contrary

notwithstanding, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, chapters 29, 39, and

42 of title 28 and chapters 4, 8, 9, and 10 of title 36.

 

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

     

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LC01065/SUB A

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