Authority: Title 2.2, Chapter 9; Chapter 22, Article 7; and Chapter 24, Article 7, Code of Virginia.
A. The Virginia Small Business Financing Authority is authorized to withdraw revenues of up to $50,000 the first year and $50,000 the second year from the accrued interest balances of the Virginia Small Business Growth Fund in order to cover the costs of administering the Virginia Capital Access Program.
B.1. Out of the amounts for Industrial Development Services shall be provided $148,700 the first year from the general fund to the Virginia-Israel Advisory Board.
2. The Virginia-Israel Advisory Board shall report by January 15 of each year to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees on the Board's activities and expenditure of state funds.
C. Any monies remaining in the Industrial Employee Training Program at the end of fiscal years 2005 and 2006 shall not revert to the general fund of the state treasury but shall be deposited to the Workforce Retraining Fund and be available for allocation in the ensuing fiscal years.
D. To meet changing financing needs of small businesses, the Executive Director of the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority with the approval of the Director of the Department of Business Assistance may transfer moneys between funds managed by the Authority. These include the Virginia Small Business Growth Fund (§ 2.2-2310, Code of Virginia); the Virginia Export Fund (§ 2.2-2309, Code of Virginia); and the Insurance or Guarantee Fund (§ 2.2-2290, Code of Virginia). The Executive Director of the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority shall report, by fund, the transfers made by January 1 of each year to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees.
E. Out of the amounts provided for Industrial Development Services shall be provided $300,000 the first year from the general fund for the Virginia Capital Access Program.
F. To encourage equal opportunity in state procurement, the Department of Business Assistance shall recognize and fully implement the Governor's Executive Order 29 issued on July 2, 2002.
G.1. The Department of Business Assistance shall continue the study authorized under Item 125 of Chapter 1042 of the Acts of Assembly of 2003.
2. However, any monies held in an institutional fund outside of the state treasury for the purpose of carrying out the study shall be transferred to the state treasury. Such moneys shall be treated as special funds, and shall not be taken into consideration in, nor be used to reduce, state appropriations or payments, but such funds shall be used in accordance with the wishes of the donors to offset the costs of conducting analyses of the availability and utilization of minority business enterprises or otherwise strengthen the services rendered by the department to minority business enterprises in the Commonwealth. The Director, Department of Planning and Budget, is authorized to establish a nongeneral fund appropriation for the purpose of expending revenues that are received for this study.
H. The Department of Business Assistance is authorized to relocate from its present location to another less-expensive location more accessible to the public.
I. In developing the operating plan for the consolidated agency, the Department of Business Assistance shall seek input from representatives of affected client and industry groups. Upon completion of the operating plan, the Director, Department of Business Assistance, shall submit copies to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees for their review no later than October 1, 2004.
J. It is the intent of the General Assembly that proposed legislation in the 2005 Session to effectuate the merger shall ensure that the core operations of the Department of Minority Business Enterprise shall continue.