Authority: §§ 23-62 through 23-85, Code of Virginia.

A.1. This appropriation includes an amount not to exceed $2,600,722 the first year and $2,626,229 the second year from the general fund 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 of Virginia, in cooperation with the Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia, shall establish elective Family Practice Medicine experiences in Southwest Virginia for both students and residents.

B. Out of this appropriation, $584,800 the first year and $584,800 the second year from the general fund is designated for the Virginia Foundation for Humanities and Public Policy.

C. Out of this appropriation shall be expended an amount estimated at $906,083 from the general fund and $460,398 from nongeneral funds the first year and $906,083 from the general fund and $460,398 from nongeneral funds the second year, for the educational telecommunications project to provide graduate engineering education, subject to a plan approved by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. This appropriation also includes $80,000 the first year from the general fund for video teleconferencing equipment at the Institute of Manufacturing Technology in Lynchburg.

D. Out of this appropriation, $350,000 the first year and $350,000 the second year from the general fund, and $350,000 the first year and $350,000 the second year from nongeneral funds is designated for the independent Virginia Institute of Government at the University of Virginia Center for Public Service.

E. Out of this appropriation, $113,000 the first year and $113,000 the second year from the general fund is designated for the Virginia State Climatologist Office.

F. Out of this appropriation, $253,606 the first year and $253,606 the second year from the general fund and at least $142,929 the first year and at least $142,929 the second year in nongeneral funds is designated for the Virginia Statewide Center for the Advancement of Generalist Medicine's portion of the "generalist initiative" to increase the number of medical school graduates entering generalist medical fields. Of these appropriations, $100,000 the first year and $100,000 the second year from the general fund are contingent upon the receipt of matching grants of like amounts.

G.1. Out of this appropriation, $813,616 from the general fund and at least $612,418 in nongeneral funds the first year and $813,616 from the general fund and at least $612,418 in nongeneral funds the second year is designated for the medical school's portion of the "generalist initiative" to increase the number of medical school graduates entering generalist medical fields. Of these appropriations, $300,000 the first year and $300,000 the second year from the general fund 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.

H. 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.

I. 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.

J. Out of this appropriation, $4,609,926 $5,690,189 from the general fund and $313,532 in nongeneral funds the first year and $3,660,945 $4,673,832 from the general fund and $313,532 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.

K. Out of this appropriation, $300,000 the first year and $300,000 the second year from the general fund is designated through fiscal year 2006 to support the university's recruitment commitment to a world-renowned researcher in prostate cancer.

L. Out of this appropriation, $100,000 the first year and $100,000 the second year from the general fund is designated to the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education for a 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 non-profit organizations providing gang prevention programming to at-risk youth and families. The Curry School of Education shall coordinate its training, technical assistance, community education efforts and awarding of grants and required grant monitoring activities with the School of Education of Virginia Commonwealth University.

M. Out of this appropriation, at least $225,000 the first year and $225,000 the second year from the general fund shall be provided in support of diabetes research, education and public service at the University of Virginia.

N. This appropriation authorizes the University of Virginia to charge its students a technology service fee in conformity with § 4-2.01 c of this act. This appropriation includes $991,468 the first year and $995,440 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.

O. Out of this appropriation, $75,000 $145,000 the first year and $75,000 $355,000 the second year from the general fund shall be provided for the Center for Government Governmental Studies at the University of Virginia to conduct and preserve oral histories with senior public officials.

P. 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 center. These funds are in partial support of the direct cost of the first-professional medical education program for Virginia students. The cost study policies established in Item 175 A shall apply to these patients and financial transactions. The annual report required in Item 175 A of this act 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.