Title: Authorizes Professional Sports Teams to Bid for State Funds
Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to pass a bill that authorizes professional sports teams to bid for state funds, effective immediately.
Highlights:
Authorizes a unit of local government, a “beneficiary,” or another entity that is responsible for the construction, management, or operation of a sports facility located on public land to apply for state funding for the facility’s construction, renovation, or improvement (Sec. 3).
Defines “beneficiary” as a professional sports franchise of certain nationally recognized sports associations including, but not limited to, the following associations (Sec. 3):
The National Football League;
Major League Soccer; and
The National Hockey League.
Requires the Department of Economic Opportunity to establish application and screening procedures for applicants seeking state funding for a sports facility, and submit recommended applications to the legislature for approval (Sec. 3).
Requires applicants to be “competitively” evaluated and ranked based on certain factors including, but not limited to, the following factors (Sec. 3):
The number and type of major events the facility is likely to attract;
The potential to attract out-of-state visitors to the facility; and
The facility’s projected employment of state residents.
Requires a unit of local government to pass any required resolution and referendum vote before they are authorized to receive state funding for a sports facility (Sec. 3).
Specifies that approved state funding will be distributed annually in an amount equal to the sales taxes generated by sales at the facility, up to the following amounts (Sec. 3):
$3 million, if the total project cost is $200 million or greater;
$2 million, if the total project cost is at least $100 million but less than $200 million; and
$1 million, if the total project cost is less than $100 million.
Authorizes a county to increase an existing hotel room occupancy tax by up to 1 percent in order to pay for bonds issued to finance the renovation of a professional sports facility that is publicly owned or located on public land, if both of the following approvals are given (Sec. 1):
Approval by a majority plus 1 vote by the board of county commissioners; and
Approval by a majority of electors in a referendum vote.