GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2011

S                                                                                                                                                    D

SENATE DRS55147-LB-277A  (03/17)

Short Title:        Small Business Assistance Records.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Senator Hartsell.
Referred to:

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT CONCERNING THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF SMALL BUSINESS COUNSELING INFORMATION.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 132-1.1 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

"(g) Personally Identifiable Small Business Counseling Information. - Records maintained by The University of North Carolina's Small Business and Technology Development Centers or the North Carolina Community College System's Small Business Center Network, which contain personally identifiable information from or about an individual seeking business counseling or technical assistance and the materials submitted by individuals or created as a result of that assistance, shall be confidential and shall not be subject to public disclosure pursuant to G.S. 132-6(a). Nothing in this subsection is intended to limit the disclosure of public records that do not contain personally identifiable information, including aggregated data, guidelines, instructions, summaries, or reports that do not contain personally identifiable information or from which it is feasible to redact any personally identifiable information that the record contains."

SECTION 2.  The catch line of G.S. 132-1.1 reads as rewritten:

"§ 132-1.1.  Confidential communications by legal counsel to public board or agency; State tax information; public enterprise billing information; Address Confidentiality Program information. information; confidential small business counseling information."

SECTION 3.  G.S. 132-1.2 reads as rewritten:

"§ 132-1.2.  Confidential information.

Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to require or authorize a public agency or its subdivision to disclose any information that:

(1)        Meets all of the following conditions:

a.         Constitutes a "trade secret" as defined in G.S. 66-152(3).

b.         Is the property of a private "person" as defined in G.S. 66-152(2).

c.         Is disclosed or furnished to the public agency in connection with the owner's performance of a public contract or in connection with a bid, application, proposal, industrial development project, or the seeking of assistance under or participation in a program administered by a public agency or in compliance with laws, regulations, rules, or ordinances of the United States, the State, or political subdivisions of the State.

d.         Is designated or indicated as "confidential" or as a "trade secret" at the time of its initial disclosure to the public agency.

…."

SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.