Pro-NBA Bill Passes House Committee
Legislation that will pave the way for the National Basketball Association to move a team, likely the Seattle SuperSonics, to Oklahoma passed a House committee today.
The bill expands the state’s Quality Jobs Program to include the NBA and the 170 jobs with a $74 million payroll it is estimated to bring to the state.
It also extends the act to cover a 15-year period and puts a reimbursement cap on the incentives from the state to not exceed the top tax rate in Oklahoma. Currently the tax rate is 5.5 percent.
If a team moves to Oklahoma, the state will be one of only 22 states and 28 cities with a team.
House Speaker Chris Benge, House author of Senate Bill 1819, said the exposure an NBA team will bring to Oklahoma is immeasurable.
“This will expose the state to not only millions of television viewers across the country and world, but will put our name in front of a whole new network of influential people,” said Benge, R-Tulsa. “This is the exact reason we created the Quality Jobs Program in Oklahoma—to attract significant, world-class employers to our state.”
"On ESPN alone, Oklahoma will be mentioned every game night and be seen by 90 million viewers. That is not to mention scores being listed on just about every TV station and in every newspaper in the country.
“This will show the nation and world we are a major league state,” said Benge. “That is a significant factor in attracting other employers to Oklahoma.”
It is estimated that local and state tax revenue to the state over a 15 year period will be $11.2 million.
The bill passed the House Economic and Development Committee today and will now move to the full House for consideration.
The bill expands the state’s Quality Jobs Program to include the NBA and the 170 jobs with a $74 million payroll it is estimated to bring to the state.
It also extends the act to cover a 15-year period and puts a reimbursement cap on the incentives from the state to not exceed the top tax rate in Oklahoma. Currently the tax rate is 5.5 percent.
If a team moves to Oklahoma, the state will be one of only 22 states and 28 cities with a team.
House Speaker Chris Benge, House author of Senate Bill 1819, said the exposure an NBA team will bring to Oklahoma is immeasurable.
“This will expose the state to not only millions of television viewers across the country and world, but will put our name in front of a whole new network of influential people,” said Benge, R-Tulsa. “This is the exact reason we created the Quality Jobs Program in Oklahoma—to attract significant, world-class employers to our state.”
"On ESPN alone, Oklahoma will be mentioned every game night and be seen by 90 million viewers. That is not to mention scores being listed on just about every TV station and in every newspaper in the country.
“This will show the nation and world we are a major league state,” said Benge. “That is a significant factor in attracting other employers to Oklahoma.”
It is estimated that local and state tax revenue to the state over a 15 year period will be $11.2 million.
The bill passed the House Economic and Development Committee today and will now move to the full House for consideration.
Labels: Chris Benge, NBA
posted by Mike McCarville @ 4:15 PM
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