Sec. 5.4. (a) For purposes of this section, “northwest Indiana plan” refers to the activities of the Indiana plan for equal employment in its northwest Indiana region.

     (b) Subject to subsection (c), the development authority shall set a goal to achieve employment and retention of employees from certain northwest Indiana cities for work on development authority projects. The goal must be to attain, by not later than January 1, 2020, a workforce for each project that consists of at least twenty percent (20%) of employees who are individuals who reside in cities that:

(1) are within the boundaries of the development authority; and

(2) have an unemployment rate that exceeds the state unemployment rate by more than twenty percent (20%).

     (c) The goal set forth in subsection (b) applies:

(1) to development authority investments of state and local funds on capital projects that require construction or demolition; and

(2) unless attainment of the goal is inconsistent with any federal or state law or regulation.

     (d) The development authority shall before November 1 of each year issue a report to the legislative council, the budget committee, and the governor concerning the operations and activities of the development authority during the preceding state fiscal year as indicated in section 3 of this chapter. In addition, the development authority shall report on progress toward meeting the goal set forth in subsection (b) for the previous year and report any obstacles to achieving the goal set forth in subsection (b) and the use of the northwest Indiana plan in the report to the legislative council. The report to the legislative council must be in an electronic format under IC 5-14-6.

As added by P.L.192-2015, SEC.13.