THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 6, 1996 TAG: 9603060003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By A. VICTOR THOMAS
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Robert Skunda, secretary of the Virginia Department of Commerce and Trade, has misrepresented the House's budgetary actions regarding reductions in the Economic Opportunity Fund.
The Economic Opportunity Fund was created in 1992 by the General Assembly to help assist localities with industrial-development projects. Funding is used primarily to offset the cost of infrastructure improvements.
Since 1992, the General Assembly has appropriated, cumulatively, $26 million to this fund. Over the four-year period, localities have received financial assistance for 81 industrial-development projects.
The governor, in his 1996-98 budget proposal, recommended funding of $38 million, a 112 percent increase over current biennial funding, and 50 percent more than the General Assembly has appropriated over the previous four-year period. The Appropriations Committee recommended funding of $28 million in the Opportunity Fund for the 1996-98 biennium, $10 million above the 1994-1996 budget.
Between 1992-1996, the state, on average, has provided localities $308,000 in assistance per project. The committee's recommendation will allow the state to provide financial assistance to localities for 91 industrial-development projects over the next two years - more projects than have been funded in total over the past four years. This substantially expands the program rather than cutting it as Secretary Skunda would have us believe. In my view, it is a little misleading to say that providing less in new money than was requested is a cut.
The committee's budgetary adjustments of $16.9 million allowed us to meet our important commitment to small business, agriculture, forestry, housing and higher education by redirecting funding in the following way:
$1 million in additional funding for small-business-development centers. The committee's action will result in a $50,000 increase per center and the establishment of a center in Alexandria. These centers are an important part of small-business development, the area of our economy that produces the most job growth;
$1 million for the capitalization of an export loan program designed to encourage exporting of Virginia products and the use of the Ports at Hampton Roads by Virginia-based companies. This measure is but one way the state can help Virginia industry to expand;
$1 million to Mountain Empire Community College to help retrain laid-off coal miners so they can pursue a new career. Investing in the training of these coal miners will cost considerably less than other public-assistance programs;
$700,000 to restore consumer-protection programs. The governor has reduced significantly Virginia's consumer- and fraud-protection capabilities;
$1.5 million to restore agricultural and forestry programs. These programs are considered essential to the Virginia Agribusiness Council, the Virginia Farm Bureau and the Forest Products Council;
$1.2 million to restore cuts at the Center for Innovative Technology. This funding supports university/industry-based research for promising technology;
$500,000 to the Center for Innovative Technology, for capital-access financing to help technology-based companies get started;
$1 million in homeless-prevention funding, which provides transitional assistance to unemployed individuals in order that they may stay in their home while finding a new job;
$9 million to help fund the House of Delegates' commitment toward freezing tuition at our colleges and universities.
Once again, let me state that the spending adjustments approved by the House of Delegates have allowed us to meet our commitment toward industrial development, tourism, small-business development, agriculture, forestry, consumer protection and housing. In addition, they allowed the House to free up approximately $9 million for the most-important economic-development program offered in Virginia - education. Virginia's economic vitality rests with its commitment to public education and higher education, both of which benefited from the House's actions.
I hope this explanation provides a better understanding of the work of the House Appropriations Committee. As a businessman, I am deeply committed to industrial development. However, this commitment must strike a balance between all of Virginia's industrial sectors. I truly believe that the action by the committee, and indeed the House, provides this balance. The sum of our work will only improve Virginia's overall business climate. MEMO: Mr. Thomas of Roanoke chairs the Economic Development Subcommittee of
the Appropriations Committee of the Virginia House of Delegates.
by CNB