Bill Text: VA HB237 | 2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board; increases membership.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-04-02 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0276) [HB237 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HB237-Chaptered.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§2.2-2485 and 2.2-2489 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§2.2-2485. Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board; membership; terms; compensation.
A. The Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board is established as a policy board in the executive branch of state government. The purpose of the Board is to promote collaborative regional economic and workforce development opportunities and activities.
B. The Board shall have a total membership of 24 25
members that shall consist of seven legislative members, 14 nonlegislative
citizen members, and three four ex officio members. Members shall
be appointed as follows: four members of the House of Delegates, consisting of
the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations and three members
appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates; three members of the
Senate, consisting of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and
Appropriations and two members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; two
nonlegislative citizen members to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of
Delegates, who shall be from different regions of the Commonwealth and have
significant private-sector business experience; two nonlegislative citizen
members to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, who shall be from
different regions of the Commonwealth and have significant private-sector
business experience; two nonlegislative citizen members to be appointed by the
Governor, who shall be from different regions of the Commonwealth and have
significant private-sector business experience; and eight nonlegislative
citizen members to be appointed by the Governor, subject to the confirmation of
the General Assembly, who shall have significant private-sector business
experience. Of the Governor's nonlegislative citizen appointments subject to
General Assembly confirmation, no more than two appointees may be from any one
region of the Commonwealth. The Speaker of the House of Delegates and the
Senate Committee on Rules shall submit a list of recommended nonlegislative
citizens with significant private-sector business experience for the Governor
to consider in making his nonlegislative citizen appointments. The Governor shall
also appoint three four Secretaries from the following, who shall
serve ex officio with voting privileges: the Secretary of Agriculture and
Forestry, the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, the Secretary of Education,
the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Finance. Nonlegislative
citizen members shall be citizens of the Commonwealth.
C. Legislative members and ex officio members of the Board shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office. After the initial staggering of terms, nonlegislative citizen members shall be appointed for a term of four years. Appointments to fill vacancies, other than by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired terms. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments. No House member appointed by the Speaker of the House shall serve more than four consecutive two-year terms, no Senate member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules shall serve more than two consecutive four-year terms, and no nonlegislative citizen member shall serve more than two consecutive four-year terms. The remainder of any term to which a member is appointed to fill a vacancy shall not constitute a term in determining the member's eligibility for reappointment.
D. The Board shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership. The chairman shall be a nonlegislative citizen member. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum.
E. Any decision by the Board shall require an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Board.
F. Legislative members of the Board shall receive such compensation as provided in §30-19.12, and nonlegislative citizen members shall receive compensation as provided in §2.2-2813 for the performance of their duties. All members shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in §§2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825.
G. Staff support and technical assistance to the Board and the Governor in carrying out the provisions of this article shall be provided by the agencies of the Secretariats of Commerce and Trade, Education, and Finance.
§2.2-2489. Award of grants to regional councils.
A. The Board shall establish guidelines, procedures, and objective criteria for the award and distribution of grants from the Fund to regional councils.
B. In order to qualify to receive grants from the Fund, a regional council shall develop an economic growth and diversification plan to (i) promote private-sector growth and opportunity in the region; (ii) identify issues of economic competitiveness for the region, including gaps in education and skills required to meet existing and prospective employer needs within the region; and (iii) outline steps that the collaborating business, education, and government entities in the region will pursue to expand economic opportunity, diversify the economy, and align workforce development activities with the education and skills needed by employers in the region. A regional council shall review such plan not less than biennially while the regional council is receiving grants from the Fund.
C. The Board shall only consider those regional activities endorsed by a regional council in its application for grants from the Fund. For any regional activity included in a regional council's application, the regional council shall identify (i) the amount of grants requested and the number of years for which grants are sought; (ii) the participating business, education, and government entities and their respective roles and contributions; (iii) the private, local, and other sources of nonstate funding that the grant from the Fund will assist in generating, including specific amounts pledged by such sources as of the application date; (iv) how the regional activity addresses the skills gaps identified in the council's economic growth and diversification plan; and (v) the economic impact or other outcomes that are reasonably expected to result from the proposed regional activity, including timetables and means of measurement.
D. Regional activities eligible for grants from the Fund shall be focused on high-impact, collaborative projects in a region that promote new job creation, entrepreneurship, and new capital investment; leverage nonstate resources to enhance collaboration; foster research, development, and commercialization activities; encourage cooperation among public bodies to reduce costs and duplication of government services; and promote other economic or workforce development activities consistent with this article that are authorized by the Board. The Board shall give initial priority to grant proposals that promote workforce development and other activities focused on eliminating skills gaps identified in a region's economic growth and diversification plan.
E. In determining a regional council's eligibility to receive grants from the Fund, and the amount of such grants, the Board shall review and score the proposed regional activities. Scores shall be assigned on the basis of predetermined criteria established by the Board in its guidelines and procedures based on the following factors:
1. The expected economic impact or outcome of the activity, with particular emphasis on goals identified in the regional council's plan for economic growth and diversification;
2. The fiscal resources from non-Fund sources that will be committed to the activity, including local or federal funds, private contributions, and cost savings expected to be achieved through regional collaboration;
3. The number and percentage of localities, including political subdivisions and bodies corporate and politic, within the region that are participating in the activity, the portion of the region's population represented by the participating localities, and the participation of localities that are outside of the applicant region;
4. The compatibility with other projects, programs, or existing infrastructure in a region to maximize the leverage of grants from the Fund to encourage new collaborative activities;
5. The expected economic impact and outcomes of the project and the complexity of the project relative to the size of the economy of the region or to the population of the participating localities;
6. The projected cost savings and other efficiencies generated by the proposed activity, and the local resources generated by collaboration that have been or will be repurposed to support the activity;
7. The character of the regional collaboration, including the nature and extent of the regional effort involved in developing and implementing the proposed activity, the complexity of the activity, the prospective impact on relations between and among the affected localities, and the prospective impact on collaboration between and among business, education, and government entities in the region;
8. Interstate, inter-regional, and other beneficial forms of collaboration, if any, that will accompany, result from, or be encouraged by the activity;
9. Efficiency in the administration and oversight of regional activities; and
10. Other factors deemed to be appropriate by the Board.
F. Each regional council awarded a grant from the Fund shall issue an annual report that shall include, at a minimum, an assessment of the impact and outcomes from regional activities supported by grants from the Fund and the region's overall progress in addressing the goals and strategies identified in the region's plan for economic growth and diversification. Such assessment shall address performance criteria prescribed in the program guidelines and procedures.
G. Subject to the provisions of §2.2-2488 and this section, once a regional council becomes eligible for grants from the Fund, the regional council may continue to apply for and receive grants from the Fund to support economic activities consistent with the regional council's economic growth and diversification plan in such amounts and for such duration as the Board may determine in accordance with its guidelines and procedures. The Board may terminate any payments to regional councils that fail to perform in accordance with this article, the Board's guidelines or procedures, or any conditions expressly agreed upon as part of a grant award, or for malfeasance. The Board may require the refund of moneys from the Fund upon such termination. Grants that are terminated shall revert to the Fund for distribution on an unallocated competitive basis.
H. In making Fund recommendations and awards, the Board may consider regional activities that commenced prior to the enactment of this article, provided that the grant-funded program or project will expand the scope of, or increase the number of localities participating in, such preexisting activity.
I. No regional council may have outstanding grant commitments of more than 25 percent of the total amount appropriated to the Fund.
J. The year for grant payments shall be the Commonwealth's fiscal year following the calendar year in which the region qualifies, with payments made annually by the Comptroller upon certification by the Board. Grant amounts shall be made at the sole discretion of the Board.
K. (Effective until July 1, 2025) Any grant awarded from the
Fund to a regional council shall require matching funds at least equal to
half the amount of the grant, provided, however, that the Board shall
have the authority to reduce the match requirement to no less than half of the
grant upon a finding by the Board of fiscal distress or an exceptional economic
opportunity in a region. Such matching funds may be from local, regional,
federal, or private funds. Matching funds may also be from grants awarded to a
locality by the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission but shall not include
any other state general or nongeneral funds, from whatever source.
K. (Effective July 1, 2025) Any grant awarded from the Fund to
a regional council shall require matching funds at least equal to half the
amount of the grant, provided, however, that the Board shall have the
authority to reduce the match requirement to no less than half of the grant
upon a finding by the Board of fiscal distress or an exceptional economic
opportunity in a region. Such matching funds may be from local, regional,
federal, or private funds, but shall not include any state general or
nongeneral funds, from whatever source.
L. Decisions of the Board shall be final and not subject to review or appeal.
2. That the provisions of §2.2-2489 of the Code of Virginia, as amended by this act, that provide matching requirements for regional Virginia Growth and Opportunity grants shall expire on July 1, 2028.
