Authority: Title 23, Chapter 6.1, Code of Virginia.

A.1. Out of this appropriation, an amount not to exceed $5,470,865 $5,560,340 the first year and $5,650,154 $5,837,036 the second year from the general fund is designated for the operation of the Family Practice Residency Program and Family Practice medical student programs. General Internal Medicine and General Pediatrics Residency Programs and related undergraduate medical student programs are considered low-revenue producing because of their location in underserved and rural locations. Consistent with the recommendation of the Council on Graduate Medical Education, Family Practice residencies shall represent 50 percent of the low-revenue residencies and general internal medicine and general pediatrics shall represent 50 percent. Further, it is the intent of the General Assembly that Medicare, Medicaid, and Indigent Care funding, in combination with other revenues, should ultimately fund 75 percent of these programs. This objective should be implemented over a six-year period. This appropriation for Family Practice Programs, whether ultimately implemented by contract, agreement or other means, is considered to be a grant.

2. The University shall report by July 1 annually to the Department of Planning and Budget an operating plan for the Family Practice Residency Program.

3. The University, in cooperation with the University of Virginia, shall establish elective Family Practice Medicine experiences in Southwest Virginia for both students and residents.

B. Out of this appropriation, an amount not to exceed $500,000 the first year and $500,000 the second year is designated from the general fund for outreach and continuing education programs of the Massey Cancer Center.

C. Out of this appropriation, $157,154 the first year and $157,154 the second year from the general fund is designated to support the Virginia Labor Center.

D. Out of this appropriation, $200,000 the first year and $200,000 the second year from the general fund is designated to support the Center on Urban Development.

E. Out of this appropriation shall be expended an amount estimated at $388,468 from the general fund and $168,533 from nongeneral funds the first year and $388,468 from the general fund and $168,533 from nongeneral funds the second year is designated for the educational telecommunications project to provide graduate engineering education, subject to a plan approved by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

F. Out of this appropriation, $30,000 the first year and $30,000 the second year shall be expended from the general fund to provide financial support to Virginia resident students during the medical school phase of their MD/PhD program.

G. Out of this appropriation, not less than $315,000 from the general fund the first year and $315,000 from the general fund the second year is designated for the Virginia Center on Aging.

H.1. Out of this appropriation, $887,688 from the general fund and at least $506,709 from nongeneral funds the first year and $887,688 from the general fund and at least $506,709 from nongeneral funds the second year is designated for the "generalist initiative" to increase the number of medical school graduates entering generalist medical fields. Of the appropriations from the general fund, $300,000 the first year and $300,000 the second year are contingent upon the receipt of matching grants of like amounts. Funding from the general fund for this Item shall not be continued in the 2000-02 biennium unless the university has met the goals identified below for the Generalist Initiative by 2000. The University shall report its progress to the Secretary of Education and the State Council of Higher Education annually by October 1. The State Council shall report on the status of the Generalist Initiative to the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees at their regularly scheduled meetings in November.

2. The amounts appropriated shall be used for recruitment and admissions, curriculum enhancement and graduate medical education.

3. It is the intent of the General Assembly that the goals of the Virginia Generalist Initiative shall be as follows:

a. By the year 2000, at least 50 percent of Virginia medical school graduates shall enter generalist practice;

b. By the year 2000, at least 50 percent of Virginia medical school graduates entering generalist practice shall enter practice in Virginia upon completion of residency training;

c. Output of Virginia graduate medical education programs will be consistent with the 50 percent goal;

d. Virginia academic health centers, in cooperation with Virginia's "Practice Sights Initiative," will actively contribute to strategies for eliminating generalist physician shortages in medically underserved areas of Virginia.

4. Further, it is the intent of the General Assembly that:

a. Generalist initiative recruitment and admissions programs shall be designed to increase the number of Virginia medical students with an interest in generalist medicine from medically underserved areas of the Commonwealth; and

b. Generalist initiative education programs shall be designed to increase educational experiences in community settings in general, and in medically underserved communities in particular, for both medical students and generalists.

I.1. Out of this appropriation, $2,000,000 from the general fund and $1,767,569 from nongeneral funds the first year and $2,000,000 from the general fund and $2,844,429 from nongeneral funds the second year is designated for operating support for the School of Engineering.

2. Consistent with the agreement entered into with the State Council of Higher Education and the Council's December 13, 1994, approval to initiate a School of Engineering, appropriations for the School of Engineering will be contingent upon the University:

a. Having met the fund-raising goal itemized in Item 223 L 2 of Chapter 853 (1995) for Fiscal Year 1996;

b. Receiving no more than $2,000,000 in support from the general fund in any future fiscal year, adjusted for inflation, for operating costs of the school;

c. Financing from private contributions all costs of building construction and other fixed costs, including debt service, and all costs of any shelled space in the new engineering building, except for costs related to an economic development project the General Assembly may wish to finance from the general fund;

d. Financing from nongeneral funds all costs for maintenance and operation of the physical plant of the new engineering school and future renovations, repairs, and improvements as they become necessary;

e. Cooperating with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for at least seven years;

f. Setting tuition for students attending the new college at market rates; and

g. Constructing the new engineering building in accordance with State law, but with minimal review by the Department of General Services.

J. Out of this appropriation, $21,375 the first year and $21,375 the second year from the general fund is designated to support the Virginia Writing Project.

K. Out of this appropriation, $371,000 the first year and $440,000 the second year from the general fund is provided for the continued operation and expansion of The Autism Program of Virginia. The Commonwealth Institute for Child and Family Studies shall have oversight responsibility for the program and shall retain $25,000 each year for administration. The balance each year shall be provided to the Arc of Virginia for operation and expansion of the program.

L. It is the intent of the General Assembly to assist the three Virginia medical schools as they respond to changes in the need for delivery and financing of medical education, both undergraduate and graduate.

M. Out of this appropriation, $1,942,290 $2,695,003 from the general fund and $214,930 in nongeneral funds the first year and $1,609,886 $1,973,198 from the general fund and $214,930 in nongeneral funds the second year is estimated for lease payments to support the cost of equipment purchased with the proceeds of bonds issued by the Virginia College Building Authority. The Director of the Department of Planning and Budget shall transfer to the Virginia College Building Authority on July 1, 1998, the amounts in the first year, and on July 1, 1999, the amounts in the second year to support the authority's debt obligation.

N. Out of this appropriation, $90,700 the first year and $90,700 the second year and 2.00 positions from the general fund is designated for support of the Virginia Executive Institute and the Commonwealth Management Institute.

O. Out of this appropriation, $100,000 the first year and $100,000 the second year from the general fund is designated to Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Education for the Gang Prevention Project. The purpose of the project is to assist localities in developing comprehensive violence prevention plans. The funds shall be used to train community teams on violence prevention, conduct needs assessments and assist in program development, and may also be used to fund local community grants to private nonprofit organizations providing gang prevention programming to at-risk youth and families. The School of Education shall coordinate its training, technical assistance, community education efforts and awarding of grants and required grant monitoring activities with the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia.

P. Out of this appropriation, $134,054 and 2.33 positions the first year and $134,054 and 2.33 positions the second year from the general fund is designated to support the Winchester Family Practice program at Warren County Memorial Hospital.

Q. This appropriation authorizes Virginia Commonwealth University to charge students a technology service fee in conformity with § 4-2.01 c of this act. This appropriation includes $761,933 the first year and $774,512 the second year from nongeneral funds, the unexpended balance of which shall not revert to the general fund in any fiscal year but shall be carried forward on the books of the Department of Accounts and allotted for expenditure each July 1. The fee charged resident undergraduate students each year shall not exceed one percent of the total of tuition and required fees charged in fiscal year 1998, and the amounts appropriated in this Item reflect that policy. The Department of Planning and Budget shall allot technology fee revenues in excess of the amounts appropriated in this Item provided that the revenues are not generated by resident undergraduate students and provided that such revenues reflect a fee that does not exceed three percent of the total of tuition and required fees charged in fiscal year 1998 to nonresident undergraduate students and three percent of the total of tuition and required fees charged in fiscal year 1998 to graduate and professional students.

R. Out of this appropriation, $400,000 in each year from the general fund is provided in recognition of unreimbursed indigent care provided by medical school faculty separate from the care provided by the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals. These funds are in partial support of the direct cost of the first-professional medical education program for Virginia students. Cost study policies similar to those established in Item 175 A of this act shall apply to these patients and financial transactions. The annual report required in Item 175 A on financial activities and the qualification of patients shall be reported to the State Council of Higher Education and the Department of Planning and Budget. The State Council and the Secretary of Education shall report to the Governor and General Assembly by November 15, 1998, on the implementation of this program and funding needs in subsequent years.