The Job Development Investment Grant program gives annual cash grants to businesses that relocate or expand in North Carolina.

The program was signed into law by Gov. Mike Easley on Oct. 31, 2002, and became effective Jan. 1, 2003. It has been amended in 2003 and 2006.

Between 2004 and 2007, the committee promised more than $200 million in grants to companies such as Google, GlaxoSmithKline and Dell Computer, in exchange for pledges of more than 20,000 jobs.

The grants are paid over as many as a dozen years. Companies must meet specific hiring and other criteria each year before the grant is given. By law, a business can create as few as 10 new jobs to qualify, but typically it's at least 100. 

The grants are approved by Economic Investment Committee, a five-member panel.

The governor appoints three people on committee: The secretaries of the state departments of Commerce and Revenue and the director of the Office of State Budget and Management. The other two are appointed by the Speaker of the House and the president pro tem of the Senate.

The committee decides on grants in closed-door sessions, though the final approval is done in an open meeting and the public can weigh in before each payment is made.

The Bill Lee Act of 1996 created tax credits for job creation, investment and worker training.

The act was signed into law by Gov. Jim Hunt on Aug. 2, 1996, and amended in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

The original bill lowered the state sales tax on food, the corporate income tax and other taxes. It also created a system of tax credits to encourage companies to locate in economically distressed counties.

The credits were originally aimed at manufacturing, warehousing and data processing jobs.

Central administrative offices and air courier services were added in 1997; customer-service call centers, wholesalers and electronic mail order operations in 1999; aircraft facilities in 2000; software publishing in 2001; computer manufacturing facilities in 2004; and motorsports facilities and research and development sites in 2006.

Central administrative offices were replaced by company headquarters in 2006.

Originally set to expire in 2002, the act was extended four years in the 2000 session, with the expectation that it would be overhauled and renewed before then.

In 2006, the tax credits were restructured to give more narrowly focused credits to address concerns that incentives were not going to the rural areas targeted by the bill. The new program's sunset was set for 2011.

Tax credits given before 2007 are generally referred to as William S. Lee Tax Credits. Those made under the restructured program are referred to as Article 3J Tax Credits.

The N.C. Department of Revenue issues yearly reports on the tax credits.

The act is named for former Duke Energy chairman William States Lee III, who chaired the N.C. Economic Development Committee for Governor Hunt. Lee died in 1996.

Its full title is the William S. Lee Quality Jobs and Business Expansion Act.

A state tax on gasoline that supports road-building.

The tax was created in 1921. According to a historical chart by the N.C. Department of Revenue, it has increased from one cent per gallon then to as high as 29.9 cents.

Based on the Dec. 31, 2006, rates, a nonpartisan research group calculated that North Carolina had the seventh-highest gas tax in the United States.

Amid rising gas prices in 2006, Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham led a campaign to roll back the gas tax. Graham's campaign collected 70,000 signatures over the Internet and held a rally outside the General Assembly in May.

In response, the state legislature capped the tax at 29.9 cents per gallon. The rate, which is adjusted twice a year based on the cost of gasoline, can go below that amount, but not above it.