Senate Bill No. 661
(By Senators McCabe, Browning, Wells, Oliverio, Williams, Foster
and Stollings)
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[Introduced February 22, 2010; referred to the Committee on
Economic Development; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article designated §5B-8-1, §5B-8-2, §5B-
8-3 and §5B-8-4, all relating to providing funds for
TechConnectWV that will enable it to begin the process of
technology-based economic development in West Virginia;
providing benchmarks in order to qualify for future funding;
and providing for reporting to the Governor and the Joint
Committee on Government and Finance by TechConnectWV in order
to determine whether such benchmarks have been reached.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §5B-8-1, §5B-8-2, §5B-
8-3 and §5B-8-4, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. FUNDING FOR TECHCONNECTWV.
§5B-8-1. Legislative findings, purposes and intent.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares that:
(a) Technology-Based Economic Development (TBED) is an
economic imperative in the 21st century, as the innovation (or
technology) economy and the growth of high-technology businesses
provide much of today's economic growth and most of today's high-
paying jobs;
(b) West Virginia must diversify its economy by investing
annually in the innovation economy to compete globally, nationally,
and regionally with surrounding states, which have longstanding
Technology-Based Economic Development programs;
(c) TechConnectWV (West Virginia Coalition for Technology-
Based Economic Development Inc.), a 501(c)3 corporation, has become
the single organization in West Virginia with a mission to
diversify the state's economy by boosting the state's technology
economy;
(d) The diversification of West Virginia's economy and the
increase in the state's technology economy will supply economic
benefits for all West Virginians, directly or indirectly, through
higher wages, higher tax revenues, and enhanced educational
opportunities;
(e) TechConnectWV's mission and activities, including the development of an Advanced Energy Innovation Institute and future
development of Institutes for Biotechnology and for Advanced
Materials & Chemicals, will directly coincide with the potential
donation of the South Charleston (Dow) Technology Park, providing
facilities and opportunities for research, development, and
commercialization to significantly boost West Virginia's technology
economy;
(f) Every state in the nation (or nearly every state) has
programs supported by state dollars to boost the technology
economy, from supporting organizations like TechConnectWV, to
providing early stage and venture capital, to providing
commercialization assistance to start-up companies, to providing
research dollars to universities, to providing research parks and
facilities;
(g) It is in the best interest of the State of West Virginia
to provide funding to TechConnectWV in order to allow TechConnectWV
to be able to encourage technology based economic development
through the development of the South Charleston (Dow) Technology
Park.
§5B-8-2. Funding of the TechConnectWV.
(a) The state shall provide TechConnectWV with $250,000 for
fiscal year 2011 for the purposes of furthering technology based
economic development at the South Charleston (Dow) Technology Park.
(b) The state shall provide TechConnectWV with $200,000 for
fiscal year 2012 for the purposes of furthering technology based
economic development at the South Charleston (Dow) Technology Park.
(c) The state shall provide the TechConnectWV with $150,000
for fiscal year 2013 for the purposes of furthering technology
based economic development at the South Charleston (Dow) Technology
Park.
(d) (The Executive Director of the TechConnectWV shall record
all expenses paid by state funds and shall provide a monthly report
of expenses to the Secretary of Commerce.
(e) Funds provided by the State of West Virginia to
TechConnectWV pursuant to this article may not be utilized to pay
salaries of any individual.
§5B-8-3. Benchmarks to be reached for TechConnectWV.
(a) TechConnectWV must demonstrate to the Secretary of
Commerce that sufficient progress has been made on certain
benchmarks that the Secretary of Commerce has provided prior to
receiving the funding in subsections (b) and (c)of section two of
this article.
§5B-8-4. Report of TechConnectWV to the Joint Committee on
Government & Finance and the Governor.
TechConnectWV shall report to the Joint Committee on
Government & Finance and the Governor on February 1, 2011 and each year thereafter for so long as TechConnectWV receives funding under
this article. In the report, TechConnectWV shall outline the usage
of the funding and shall report on how TechConnectWV is progressing
in its ability to encourage technology based economic development.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide funding for
TechConnectWV so that it will enable TechConnectWV to encourage
technology based economic development. TechConnectWV will be
required to meet certain benchmarks in order for it to receive
future funding.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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