Chief Patron: Brink
Population Projections

Item 122 #1h

Language
Page 95, line 13, strike "$2,881,526" and insert "$3,081,526".
Page 95, after line 16, insert:
"Out of this appropriation, $200,000 from the general fund in the first year shall be used by the Virginia Employment Commission to support a contract to produce a 30-year population projection for each jurisdiction in the Commonwealth.  The method used to produce the projection should be applied consistently throughout the state and accurately portray growth trends for each jurisdiction."

Explanation
(This amendment provides $200,000 from the general fund to the VEC in fiscal year 2015 to contract for the production of 30-year population projects for the state. In 2012 the VEC contracted with UVA's Weldon Cooper Center (WCC) to produce population projections through 2040. Due to resource limitations, the WCC was not able to apply a consistent methodology to the projections and manually manipulated results for jurisdictions in which the model produced excessive growth. In addition the projections did not accurately portray growth throughout the Commonwealth and contradicted current trends.)