Economic Development Consolidation
Item 513.1 #1s
Item 513.1 #1s | First Year - FY2003 | Second Year - FY2004 | |
| Central Appropriations |
| Central Appropriations | FY2003 $0 | FY2004 ($5,500,000) | GF |
Language
Page 486, after line 18, insert:
"A. The Secretary of Commerce and Trade shall prepare an agency reorganization plan to be submitted to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees by December 22, 2003. In developing the plan, the Secretary shall consult with the Secretaries of Education and Technology, the Department of Planning and Budget, and the clients of services potentially affected by the consolidation.
B. The agencies to be reorganized and consolidated into a single agency within the Commerce and Trade Secretariat are the Departments of Business Assistance and Minority Business Enterprise, the A.L. Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Virginia-Israel Advisory Board, and the Innovative Technology Authority.
C. The plan shall include but not be limited to establishing the goals of the new agency; measurable objectives to assess the future performance of the agency; the strategies to carry out the objectives; and identification and description of the activities and services to be reorganized, enhanced, curtailed, or eliminated. The plan shall also explain how the savings are to be achieved as well as how many positions and dollars are to be allocated to each of the new agency's activities and services. The Secretary may use nongeneral funds, where appropriate, to supplant a portion of the general fund reductions set out in this Item.
D. If the Secretary concludes that the savings cannot be met from reductions to the operating budgets of these agencies, he is authorized to sell the Innovative Technology Authority facility in Herndon, Virginia, and use the proceeds from the sale to meet the budget reductions in this Item. In the event of a sale, the Commonwealth shall continue to meet its obligation to provide rental subsidies required in the agreement with the Software Productivity Consortium. The Secretary is also authorized to relocate the Department of Business Assistance from its present location to another less-expensive location more accessible to the public as part of the plan.
E. In developing policies, objectives and strategies to enhance economic development in technology, the Secretary shall emphasize activities to help owners to commercialize intellectual property as opposed to licensing it directly or getting involved in ownership issues; to serve as a facilitator of economic development in technology and not as an investor; to promote technology-based solutions to current and future business issues; and to promote the incubation of technology companies but not to operate any incubators.
F. To encourage equal opportunity in state procurement, the consolidated agency shall recognize and fully implement the Governor's Executive Order 29 issued on July 2, 2002.
G. It is the intent of the General Assembly that legislation be introduced in the 2004 Session of the General Assembly amending the Code of Virginia to effect the reorganization contained in this Item."
Explanation
(This amendment consolidates several agencies in the Commerce and Trade, Education, and Technology secretariats into a single economic development agency. The amendment includes a general fund savings of $5.5 million in FY 2004.)