Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 13, 1995 TAG: 9506130050
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Virginia group was getting support from other states for proposals to expand access to patent information and rural online computer services, and to broaden rights of land owners and those who do creative work such as songwriters and inventors, said Virginia delegate Boyd Johnson of Roanoke.
About 2,000 business representatives from throughout the nation met Sunday to tell the White House and Congress about legal reforms needed over the next 10 years. The delegates, including eight people from Southwest Virginia, planned to vote before the event ends Thursday night for the top 60 of about 500 proposals, which range from streamlining regulations to facilitating world trade.
"You score yourself on how well you are able to build alliances and get what you think is important into the top 60 recommendations," said Johnson, owner of Jamont Press/Hoppy Copy, a Roanoke company that provides electronically assisted printing and related services.
After the last conference was held, in 1986, 62 percent of proposals were converted to law.
Delegates paid their own way and businesses underwrote the cost of hotel meeting rooms, Johnson said.
Johnson said delegates were cordial but firm, arguing their positions in small sessions in hotel meeting rooms. The debate continued into the hallway and over meals. Johnson said he met a California man, who agreed to vote with Virginia delegates on technology issues, after commenting on the man's shirt, which identified an Orange County, Va., high school.
Johnson said key proposals being pushed by the Virginia delegation would streamline patent records to save businesses from hiring costly consultants to get information; ensure online services are available in rural areas at a reasonable price; decide when the government must compensate owners of land devalued by strict land-use laws; and extend copyright protections to all nations that adhere to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
In a speech, President Clinton touted progress on paperwork reduction, Johnson said, when he explained how officials had trimmed federal regulations by 15 pages by eliminating a long-winded definition of grits.
by CNB