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2020 Session

Budget Amendments - SB30 (Committee Approved)

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Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority

Item 135 #1s

Item 135 #1s

First Year - FY2021 Second Year - FY2022
Commerce and Trade
Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority FY2021 ($10,075,000) FY2022 ($14,275,000) GF

Language
Page 112, line 51, strike "$36,925,000" and insert "$26,850,000".
Page 112, line 51, strike "$42,125,000" and insert "$27,850,000".

Page 113, strike lines 8 through 51.

Page 114, strike lines 1 through 55.

Page 115, strike lines 1 through 55.

Page 116, strike lines 1 through 19.

Page 113, after line 7, insert:


"B. The Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA) is hereby authorized to transfer funds in this appropriation to an established managing non-profit to expend said funds for realizing the statutory purposes of the Authority, by contracting with governmental and private entities, notwithstanding the provisions of § 4-1.05 b of this act.


C. This appropriation shall be disbursed in twelve equal monthly disbursements each fiscal year. The Director, Department of Planning and Budget, may authorize an increase in disbursements for any month not to exceed the total appropriation for the fiscal year if such an advance is necessary to meet payment obligations.


D.1. No later than November 1 of each year, the Authority shall report to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees details describing key programs overseen by the Authority and an assessment of their effectiveness in attracting public and private research funding, investment capital, and increasing innovation and economic development in Virginia during the prior fiscal year.


2. The report shall include details on direct and indirect investment activities including but not limited to: (i) the number of companies receiving investments from the fund; (ii) the state investment and amount of privately leveraged investments per company; (iii) the estimated number of jobs created; (iv) the estimated tax revenue generated; (v) the number of companies who have received investments from the GAP fund still operating in Virginia; (vi) return on investment, to include the value of proceeds from the sale of equity in companies that received support from the program and economic benefits to the Commonwealth; (vii) the number of state investments that failed and the state investment associated with failed investments; and (viii) the number of new companies created or expanded and the number of patents filed.


E.1. Out of the appropriation in this Item, a total of $3,100,000 the first year and $3,100,000 the second year from the general fund shall be allocated to the Division of Investment to support the Commonwealth Growth Acceleration Program fund and other indirect investment mechanisms to foster the development of Virginia-based technology companies.


2. Funds returned, including proceeds received due to the sale of a company that previously received a GAP investment, shall remain in the program and be used to make future early stage financing investments consistent with the goals of the program. The managing non-profit may recover the direct costs incurred associated with securing the return of such funds from the moneys returned.


F. Out of the appropriation in this Item, a total of $2,000,000 the first year and $2,000,000 the second year from the general fund shall be allocated to the Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Division to support and promote technology-based entrepreneurial activities in the Commonwealth as specified in § 2.2-2357, Code of Virginia.


G. Out of the appropriation in this Item, a total of $1,000,000 the first year and $1,000,000 the second year from the general fund shall be allocated to the Technology Industry Development Services to support strategic initiatives that explore and shape programs designed to attract and grow innovation in the Commonwealth. These initiatives may include: (i) seeking, or supporting others in seeking, federal grants, contracts, or other funding sources that advance the exploration functions of the Authority's public purpose; (ii) assuming responsibility for forward-looking technology assessment and market vision around strategic initiatives and partnerships with federal and local governments; (iii) taking a leading role in defining, promoting, and implementing forward-looking technology market and industry development policies and processes that advance innovation and entrepreneurial activity and the assimilation of technology; (iv) contracting with federal and private entities to further innovation, commercialization, and entrepreneurship in the Commonwealth; and (v) conducting limited-scale commercialization pilot projects based on identified strategic initiatives to promote the industry or commercial development of specific technologies or interests.


H. Out of the appropriation in this Item, $1,000,000 the first year and $1,000,000 the second year from the general fund shall be made available for the Virginia Center for Unmanned Systems. The Center shall serve as a catalyst for growth of unmanned and autonomous systems vehicles and technologies in Virginia.  The Center will establish collaboration between businesses, investors, universities, entrepreneurs and government organizations to increase the Commonwealth's position as a leader of the Autonomous Systems community.


I.1. Out of the appropriation for this Item, $3,750,000 the first year and $3,750,000 the second year from the general fund shall be provided for the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation (VBHRC), a non-stock corporation research consortium initially comprised of the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, George Mason University and the Eastern Virginia Medical School. The consortium will contract with private entities, foundations and other governmental sources to capture and perform research in the biosciences, as well as promote the development of bioscience infrastructure tools which can be used to facilitate additional research activities. The Director, Department of Planning and Budget, is authorized to provide these funds to the non-stock corporation research consortium referenced in this paragraph upon request filed with the Director, Department of Planning and Budget by VBHRC.


2. Of the amounts provided in I.1. for the research consortium, up to $3,750,000 the first year and $3,750,000 the second year may be used to develop or maintain investments in research infrastructure tools to facilitate bioscience research.


3. Remaining funding shall be used to capture and perform research in the biosciences and must be matched at least dollar-for-dollar by funding provided by such private entities, foundations and other governmental sources. No research will be funded by the consortium unless at least two of the participating institutions, including the five founding institutions and any other institutions choosing to join, are actively and significantly involved in collaborating on the research. No research will be funded by the consortium unless the research topic has been vetted by a scientific advisory board and holds potential for high impact near-term success in generating other sponsored research, creating spin-off companies or otherwise creating new jobs. The consortium will set guidelines to disburse research funds based on advisory board findings. The consortium will have near-term sustainability as a goal, along with corporate-sponsored research gains, new Virginia company start-ups, and job creation milestones.


4. Other publicly-supported institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth may choose to join the consortium as participating institutions. Participation in the consortium by the five founding institutions and by other participating institutions choosing to join will require a cash contribution from each institution in each year of participation of at least $50,000.


5. Of these funds, up to $500,000 the first year and $500,000 the second year may be used to pay the administrative, promotional and legal costs of establishing and administering the consortium, including the creation of intellectual property protocols, and the publication of research results.


6. The accounts and records of the consortium shall be made available for review and audit by the Auditor of Public Accounts upon request.


7. Up to $2,500,000 of the funds managed by the Commonwealth Health Research Board (CHRB), created pursuant to § 32.1-162.23, Code of Virginia, shall be directed toward collaborative research projects, approved by the boards of the VBHRC and CHRB, to support Virginia's core bioscience strengths, improve human health, and demonstrate commercial viability and a high likelihood of creating new companies and jobs in Virginia.


J.1. Out of the appropriation in this Item, $925,000 in the first year and $925,000 in the second year from the general fund shall be made available to the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing for rent, operating support and maintenance. VIPA shall approve any and all disbursements of these funds to the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing before distribution. These funds shall not revert back to the general fund at the end of the fiscal year.


2. Out of the appropriation in this Item, VIPA shall provide $1,100,000 the first year and $1,100,000 the second year from the general fund to CCAM for the purpose of providing private sector incentive grants to industry members of the CCAM as follows: (i) incentive grants for new industry members with no prior membership at CCAM; (ii) incentive grants to small manufacturing members who locate their primary job center in the Commonwealth, as determined by VIPA, in order to mitigate inaugural, industry membership costs associated with joining CCAM; and (iii) grants dedicated to CCAM industry members to be used exclusively for research project costs and require a minimum one-to-one match in funds to conduct additional directed research at the CCAM facility after their base amount of directed research is programmed.


3. Out of the appropriation in this Item, VIPA shall provide $600,000 in the first year and $600,000 in the second year from the general fund to CCAM for university research grants requiring a minimum one-to-one match in funds that bring in external research funds from federal or private organizations for research to be conducted at the CCAM facility. All project approvals are contingent upon each university partner entering into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CCAM that includes specific details about the university's anticipated commitment of financial and human resources, as well as programming and academic credentialing plans, to the CCAM facility.


4. No grant funds shall be disbursed until the conditions of paragraph J.2. of this Item have been met and approval from VIPA has been granted.


5. CCAM shall submit a report on October 1, 2020, to the Secretary of Finance and Chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations containing a status update of all new incentive programs, including but not limited to the following: (i) MOUs it has entered into with each university partner; (ii) funds disbursed to both university and private sector partners of CCAM, as well as any other recipients; (iii) any other agreements CCAM has entered into with representatives of the public and private sectors that may impact current and future incentive fund disbursements; and (iv) any additional information requested by VIPA, the Secretary of Finance, or the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees.


K.1. Out of this appropriation, $5,000,000 the first year and $5,000,000 the second year from the general fund is provided to scale the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative and provide resources for faculty recruiting at both the Hub, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, and Spoke sites.


2. Out of this appropriation, $5,000,000 the first year and $5,000,000 the second year from the general fund is provided for the leasing of space and establishment of the Hub by the anchoring institution and for the establishment of research faculty, entrepreneurship programs, student internships and educational programming, and operations of the Hub.


L. Out of this appropriation, $125,000 in the first year and $125,000 in the second year is designated for the Virginia Academy of Engineering, Science and Medicine to provide technical assistance to the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority.


M.1. Out of the amounts transferred to the Authority as a result of actions pursuant to Item 126.10, paragraph S.5 of the Chapter 854, 2019 Acts of Assembly, $10,000,000 the first year shall be allocated to the Commonwealth Commercialization Fund to foster innovative and collaborative research, development, and commercialization efforts in the Commonwealth in projects and programs with a high potential for economic development and job creation as specified in § 2.2-2359.


2. Excluding the amounts in paragraph M.1. of this item, any additional funds transferred to the Authority as a result of actions pursuant to Item 126.10, paragraph S.5 of the Chapter 854, 2019 Acts of Assembly may be used: (1) to enable the establishment of a fund of funds that will permit the Commonwealth to invest in one or more syndicated private investment funds; (2) to enhance direct investment programs by placing additional investments in partnership with Virginia accelerators and university technology commercialization programs; (3) to enable the establishment of a sustainable program to enhance discovery of, and early investment in, technologies aligned with the Virginia Innovation Index; and (4) in addition to the amounts provided in paragraphs K.1. and K.2. of this item, to provide additional funding to the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative. Decisions to allocate funding to the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative and decisions to invest in private funds shall be subject to approval by the Board of Directors. Investments in such funds shall be monitored by the Board of Directors.


N. Out of the amounts in this item, $1,000,000 the second year from the general fund is allocated to the Commonwealth Commercialization Fund to foster innovative and collaborative research, development, and commercialization efforts in the Commonwealth in projects and programs with a high potential for economic development and job creation as specified in § 2.2-2359, Code of Virginia."



Explanation

(This amendment creates the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority to serve as a consolidated entity for innovation and new technology-based economic development in the Commonwealth pursuant to SB 576. Funding includes proceeds from the sale of the CIT building, including $10.0 million NGF allocated to the Commonwealth Commercialization Fund. The remainder of the proceeds may be used to support the Division of Investment and to provide additional funding for the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative.)