Authority: Title 60.2, Chapters 1 through 6, Code of Virginia.
A. Revenues deposited into the Special Unemployment Compensation Administration Fund shall be used for the purposes set out in the following order of priority: 1) to support essential services of the Commission, particularly in the event of reductions in federal funding; 2) to finance the cost of capital projects; and 3) to fund the discretionary fund established in § 60.2-315, Code of Virginia. Funding may be transferred from the capital budget to the operating budget consistent with this language.
B.1. Reed Act funds credited to the unemployment trust fund with respect to federal fiscal years 2000, 2001, and 2002, under Section 1103 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.), as amended, shall be used only for the administration of the unemployment compensation program, under the direction of the Virginia Employment Commission and shall not be subject to the requirements of § 60.2-305 of the Code of Virginia.
2. There is hereby appropriated out of the funds made available to this state under Section 1103 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.), as amended, the sum of $18,692,633 in the first year and $12,212,823 in the second year of Reed Act funds, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be used under the direction of the Virginia Employment Commission, and subject to the requirements of § 60.2-305, Code of Virginia, for the purpose of administering the federal Wagner-Peyser Job Service Grant ($2,529,421 in the first year and $3,633,398 in the second year) and the federal Unemployment Insurance Grant ($16,163,212 in the first year and $8,579,425 in the second year).
C.1. Education for Independence and Virginia's Skills Center Programs previously funded through the 1990 Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education and Applied Technology Act and through Social Services Block Grants or other available federal funds shall be funded and supported through the Workforce Investment Act and the One-Stop Career System.
2. The Virginia Employment Commission shall work with the various providers of the Education for Independence programs to prepare these providers to become certified and eligible for funding through the local Workforce Investment Boards.
D. The Virginia Workforce Council shall develop a Workforce Investment Act Plan to identify the funding amount needed and the funding source to train nurses. The plan shall be submitted to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee, the House Appropriations Committee, and the Joint Commission on Health Care prior to September 1, 2002.
E.1. It is the intent of the General Assembly that unobligated funds appropriated by the General Assembly for the use of local Workforce Investment Boards and returned to the Commonwealth shall be reallocated by the Governor to the same geographic areas from which the unobligated funds were obtained. The reallocated funds shall be used for high-priority education programs, including allied health professions, plumbing, tractor-trailer driver training, industrial maintenance, heavy-equipment operator training, automotive technician training, industrial machinist training, and high-skills manufacturing. The Secretary of Commerce and Trade shall report to the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees by November 1 of each year on the amounts returned from the local Workforce Investment Boards and uses of the funds reallocated by the Governor.
2. As part of its current review of workforce training services in Virginia, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall examine the effectiveness of the state's administration of the Workforce Investment Act and assess whether administration of the program would be improved by transferring responsibility from the Virginia Employment Commission to another state agency.
F. Out of this Item, $3,545,071 the first year and $5,864,425 the second year is appropriated to develop three customer contact centers. One such center shall be located in Southside Virginia. An additional center shall be located in Southwest Virginia. The Commissioner shall report on the project's implementation, funding status, and need for additional centers to the Secretary of Commerce and Trade and to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees by January 8, 2003.