Attorney General Andy Beshear: Reveal 'secret partners' in company getting $15M from state
Gov. Matt Bevin's administration cannot keep secret the names of investors in Braidy Industries Inc., which received $15 million in public funding for a new aluminum plant in Eastern Kentucky, Attorney General Andy Beshear has ruled.
In an Oct. 3 decision, Beshear said the state's Cabinet for Economic Development violated the Kentucky Open Records Act by denying a Courier-Journal request for public records that would show who owns shares in the privately held company.
In March, during the final hours of its 2017 legislative session, the Legislature approved the Bevin administration's request for a $15 million incentive for a potential — but unidentified — economic development project in Eastern Kentucky.
A few weeks later, Bevin announced that Braidy Industries, a newly formed company, would build a $1.3 billion aluminum rolling mill in Greenup County and would eventually employ approximately 500 full-time workers.
Read more: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2017/10/06/kentucky-public-financed-company-not-legal-secret/594183001/