Sec. 44.88.010. - Legislative finding and policy. - Alaska Statutes

(a) The legislature finds, determines, and declares that

(1) there exist areas of the state in which seasonal and nonseasonal unemployment exist;

(2) this unemployment is a serious menace to the health, safety, and general welfare, not only to the people in those areas, but also to the people of the entire state;

(3) the state lacks the basic manufacturing, industrial, export, small business, and business enterprises and the other facilities referred to in this subsection necessary to permit adequate development of its natural resources and the balanced growth of its economy;

(4) the establishment and expansion of industrial, manufacturing, export, small business, and business enterprises in Alaska and the other facilities referred to in this subsection are essential to the development of the natural resources and the long-term economic growth of the state, and will directly and indirectly alleviate unemployment in the state;

(5) the expansion of export trade is vital to the health and growth of the state's economy;

(6) many Alaska businesses could benefit from additional financial and technical assistance with respect to the exportation of their products and services;

(7) the United States Export-Import Bank has been mandated by the Export-Import Bank Act Amendments of 1983 to provide technical assistance and export financing support to small businesses in cooperation with state export finance agencies;

(8) Alaska-based exporters can be effectively assisted through the establishment, as part of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, of an export financing program designed to work with the U.S. Export-Import Bank and other federal, state, and private institutions;

(9) the achievement of the goal of full employment, and of establishment and continuing operation and development of industrial, manufacturing, export, small business, and business enterprises in the state will be accelerated and facilitated by the creation of an instrumentality of the state with powers to incur debt, to own and operate facilities, to make and insure loans to finance and to assist private lenders to make loans to finance the establishment, operation, and development of industrial, manufacturing, export, small business, and business enterprises;

(10) it is in the public interest to promote the prosperity and general welfare of all citizens of the state by

(A) stimulating commercial and industrial growth and expansion by encouraging an increase of private investment by banks, investment houses, insurance companies, and other financial institutions, including pension and retirement funds, to help satisfy the need for economic expansion;

(B) encouraging the production of raw materials and goods for export, the expansion of exports and raw materials and goods, and the rendering of services abroad by residents of the state through the establishment of a program that provides financial assistance in cooperation with federal, state, and private institutions for these purposes in the form provided in this chapter;

(C) creating the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority with the powers necessary to accomplish the objectives stated in this paragraph, including the power to issue taxable and tax-exempt bonds and to acquire ownership interests in projects as provided in this chapter;

(11) it is in the state's interest to import private capital to create new economic activity which would not otherwise take place in the state.

(b) It is declared to be the policy of the state, in the interests of promoting the health, security, and general welfare of all the people of the state, and a public purpose, to increase job opportunities and otherwise to encourage the economic growth of the state, including the development of its natural resources, through the establishment and expansion of manufacturing, industrial, export, small business, and business enterprises and the other facilities referred to in (a) of this section by creating the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority with the powers, duties, and functions as provided in this chapter.

(c) It is further declared to be the policy of the state, in the interests of promoting the health, security, and general welfare of all the people of the state, and a public purpose of the state, to accomplish the objectives set out in (b) of this section through the provision of financial support to a federal, state, municipal, or private entity.