AIDEA claims disclosure requirement would kill development

Here is one of the reasons why the Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority has credibility problems.

The agency claims that extending the Alaska Public Records Act to AIDEA would kill all interest among private companies in seeking assistance from AIDEA.

Randy Ruaro, the CEO of AIDEA, claims a section of the bill “attempts to make proprietary and confidential financial information submitted by a project applicant to AIDEA open to the public. Businesses have a right to protect confidential and proprietary information. That right should not be taken away and if it is, no one will bring a project to AIDEA for financing.”

It’s more complicated than Ruaro admits.

Existing state law gives private companies and individuals who approach AIDEA the ability to claim almost anything they submit to the agency should be kept secret. It’s no surprise that almost everyone who wants financial assistance from AIDEA wants to keep everything secret.

The law also gives the head of AIDEA power to err on the side of secrecy, not transparency.

House Bill 124 would repeal the special list of secrecy provisions that apply to AIDEA and limit the agency to the exemptions from disclosure that apply elsewhere in state government. Those exemptions require proprietary information, privileged information and trade secrets to be kept secret.

Extending the requirements of the public records act to AIDEA wil not make proprietary and confidential financial information public. And it will not kill the desire of private companies to get state financial assistance.

AIDEA already claims on its website that it “is committed to transparency and operating in accordance with the Alaska Public Records Act and the Alaska Administrative Code 2 AAC 96.”

This is one of the smaller changes proposed in HB 124 regarding AIDEA. It is long overdue.

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