A $218.6 million incentive package apparently intended to lure a solar panel and cell factory to the Tulsa Port of Inola cleared its first legislative hurdle on Tuesday.
Three bills creating a special $180 million “Performance Fund” and appropriating $38.6 million for water and sewer infrastructure sailed through the Oklahoma House of Representatives’ Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget with minimal opposition.
The Senate version of the same committee was to take up the package Tuesday evening.
The House Committee also easily passed a $10.9 million appropriation to bail out an overbudget veterans center being built in Sallisaw. That cost overruns are the subject of a lawsuit between the Department of Veterans Affairs and a contractor.
As is customary, the three bills related to what’s being called “Project Sirius” do not name any potential companies or locations, but documents obtained through an Open Records Request indicate the incentives target Enel North America, which in November announced it would be building a manufacturing plant in the U.S. expected to ultimately employ about 1,500 people.
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Last month Reuters reported Oklahoma was the leading candidate for the plant. Enel already has offices in Oklahoma City and operates several wind farms in the state.
Also last month, The Frontier reported that the Port of Inola was the most likely site.
House Bill 2888 appropriates $38.6 million to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board for “necessary for upgrades to water and wastewater systems, located in Northeast Oklahoma along an inland waterway that supplies water and wastewater to major supply chain locations.”
That could describe either Grand River, where the MidAmerica Industrial Park is located, or the Tulsa Ports of Catoosa or Inola.
Senate Bill 1177, which is the framework of the Perform Fund, sets a series of investment and employment benchmarks that must be met to receive up to $180 million over five years. The top level is $1.8 billion in capital investment and 1,400 employees.
All appropriations from the four bills would come from current year surplus funds. Any balance remaining in the Perform Fund in 2032 would be returned to the state’s general revenue.
May 5, 2023 video. Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed more than 30 bills this session in an attempt to pressure the Legislature to cut taxes and pass an education plan that includes teacher pay raises and school choice tax credits.
