81-12,182. Matching funds; eligibility; application; requirements; approval; deadlines.

(1) In order to be eligible to receive the matching funds allowed in the Nebraska Transformational Projects Act, the applicant shall file an application with the director, on a form developed by the director, requesting an agreement.

(2) The application shall:

(a) Identify the project, including the qualified location of such project, and state that the applicant is pursuing a partnership with the federal government pursuant to Title VII, Subtitle C, section 740 of Public Law 116-92 for the project;

(b) State the estimated, projected amount of total new investment at the project, which shall not be less than one billion six hundred million dollars, including the estimated, projected amount of private dollars and matching funds;

(c) Include an independent assessment of the economic impact to Nebraska from the project and its construction, which shall be performed by a professional economist or economics firm which is not in the regular employ of the applicant. The assessment must show, to the reasonable satisfaction of the director, an economic impact to Nebraska of at least two billion seven hundred million dollars during the planning and construction period and at least four billion six hundred million dollars during the ten-year period beginning either when construction is commenced or when the application is approved;

(d) Include approval of the project and of submission of the application by the governing body of the applicant. Approval of the project may be subject to other federal, state, and local government approvals needed to complete the project and subject to obtaining the funding, financing, and donations needed for the project;

(e) State the E-Verify number or numbers that will be used by the applicant for employees at the qualified location as provided by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services; and

(f) Contain a nonrefundable application fee of twenty-five thousand dollars. The fee shall be remitted to the State Treasurer for credit to the Nebraska Transformational Project Fund.

(3) An application must be complete to establish the date of the application. An application shall be considered complete once it contains the items listed in subsection (2) of this section.

(4) Once satisfied that the application is complete and that the applicant is eligible to receive the matching funds allowed in the Nebraska Transformational Projects Act, the director shall approve the application.

(5) There shall be no new applications filed under this section after December 31, 2025. Any complete application filed on or before December 31, 2025, shall be considered by the director and approved if the location and applicant qualify for approval. Agreements may be executed with regard to any complete application filed on or before December 31, 2025.

Source:Laws 2020, LB1107, § 98; Laws 2023, LB727, § 102.
Operative Date: September 2, 2023