Stitt signs SB 1990, expanding oversight requirements for incentive evaluations

OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) — Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 1990 into law Monday, updating Oklahoma’s statutory framework for reviewing business incentives through the Incentive Evaluation Commission.

The measure amends 62 O.S. § 7005 and is focused on tightening evaluation standards and reporting requirements for state incentive programs.

Under SB 1990, the commission’s annual written report—submitted each year by Dec. 15—must be filed electronically not only with the governor and legislative leaders but also with the Secretary of State, adding a new distribution requirement to the existing reporting process. The law also reiterates public availability requirements, including posting the report on the Oklahoma Department of Commerce website, the commission website and documents.ok.gov.

The legislation also expands and clarifies what must be included in each incentive evaluation’s estimate of economic and fiscal impact. SB 1990 directs evaluators to consider whether an incentive changes business behavior (including whether a business would have taken the incentivized action absent the incentive), to assess the incentive’s results for Oklahoma’s economy as a whole—explicitly including potential negative effects on other Oklahoma businesses—and to compare outcomes to other incentives or economic development strategies with similar goals in Oklahoma and other states.