(a) There is hereby created the Renewal of Alabama Commission.
(b) The commission shall be comprised of all of the following persons:
(1) The Director of Finance, or his or her designee.
(2) The Secretary of Commerce, or his or her designee.
(3) The Chair of the House Ways and Means Education Committee, or its successor committee, if any, or his or her designee.
(4) The Chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee, or its successor committee, if any, or his or her designee.
(5) Three persons appointed by the Governor, at least one of whom shall be a resident of an area of the state the source of whose primary power supply is the Tennessee Valley Authority or its lawfully authorized distributor.
(6) One person appointed by the Speaker of the House, who shall be an employee, board member, or trustee of an Alabama public community college or four-year institution of higher education.
(7) One person appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, who shall be an employee or a board member of an Alabama public school system providing K-12 education.
(c) All persons appointed to the commission shall have one or more of the following qualifications:
(1) Members must be knowledgeable in the management of money and finance.
(2) Members must have experience in international trade.
(3) Members must have experience as chief executive officers, chief financial officers, or other executive level management roles in businesses in this state which employ Alabama residents.
(d) (1) All appointing authorities shall coordinate their appointments so that diversity of gender, race, and geographical areas are reflective of the makeup of the state.
(2) No person appointed to the commission shall serve a term longer than four years. Persons may serve consecutive subsequent four-year terms.
(e) The Secretary of Commerce, or his or her designee, shall be the chair of the commission and shall preside over all meetings of the commission. The commission may elect such other officers as it may find necessary or desirable. The commission shall have a board secretary to keep minutes of its proceedings. No officer of the commission other than the chair need be a member of the commission.
(f) No member of the commission shall vote or participate in any matter in which the member or a family member of the member has any financial gain or interest.
(g) Members of the commission shall serve without compensation.
(h) The commission shall meet at the call of the chair or any majority of members thereof at least two times annually.
(i) The commission shall adopt its own rules of procedure for the transaction of its business, and a majority of the members present shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting or performing authorized duties. Meetings of the commission are subject to Chapter 25A of Title 36. In order to balance the privacy needs of companies with openness to the public, the commission may use code names in its deliberations about various applicants and in the minutes of its proceedings.
(j) The Department of Commerce shall provide administrative and staffing support for the commission. The Department of Revenue shall disclose to the commission whatever information it may possess which would allow the commission to fulfill this article. The information shall only be disclosed and discussed in a closed session. The Department of Revenue may require members of the commission to execute confidentiality agreements before the disclosure of information.
(k) The commission shall make an annual report on the use of funds pursuant to this article. Such report shall be made to the Chair of the House Ways and Means Education Committee, the Chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee, and the members of the Joint Legislative Advisory Committee on Economic Incentives established by Section 40-18-379, at the times and in the manner requested by the committee. Any publicly available version of the report may redact information which the Department of Commerce believes would place the state at a competitive disadvantage.
(l) The commission and the Department of Commerce and Department of Revenue are authorized to adopt rules as necessary to implement and administer this article and Article 19.
(m) Members of the commission shall be public officials for purposes of the ethics laws in Chapter 25 of Title 36.