Sunday, September 7, 2008
The General Assembly is not in session.
Tracking Virginia’s General Assembly
since 2007.
HB1095: Bioscience and Biotechnology, Commission on; created, report.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Title 30 a chapter numbered 45, consisting of sections numbered 30-293 through 30-297 as follows:
§ 30-293. Virginia Commission on Bioscience and Biotechnology; purpose.
The Virginia Commission on Bioscience and Biotechnology is established within the legislative branch of state government for the purpose of studying and advancing the development and enhancement of the biosciences and biotechnology in the Commonwealth, and reviewing and implementing appropriate and efficacious recommendations of recent state and national research investigations in these disciplines, including the Governor’s Commission on Biotechnology.
§ 30-294. Membership; terms; quorum; meetings.
The Commission shall have a total membership of 20 members that shall consist of eight legislative members, five nonlegislative citizen members, and seven ex officio members. Members shall be appointed as follows: five members of the House of Delegates, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates in accordance with the principles of proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House of Delegates; three members of the Senate, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; three nonlegislative citizen members of whom two shall represent Virginia’s public research institutions of higher education, and one shall have expertise in local economic development to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates; and two nonlegislative citizen members of whom one shall represent the Center for Innovative Technology, and one shall represent the private biotechnology industry to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. The Secretary of Commerce and Trade, the Secretary of Technology, the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, the Secretary of Education, the Executive Director of the State Council of Higher Education, the Director of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and the Director of the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services or their designees shall serve ex officio without voting privileges. The Commission shall also ensure the participation and contribution of representatives of agricultural and tobacco interests, federal laboratories in Virginia involved in research and technology transfer in life sciences, and the not-for-profit life science and research institutions and laboratories in the Commonwealth to the work and deliberations of the Commission. These representatives shall not provide staffing services or have voting privileges. Nonlegislative citizen members of the Commission shall be citizens of the Commonwealth. Unless otherwise approved in writing by the chairman of the Commission and the respective Clerk, nonlegislative citizen members shall be reimbursed only for travel originating and ending within the Commonwealth for the purpose of attending meetings.
Legislative members and ex officio members of the Commission shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office. 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. All members may be reappointed. Nonlegislative citizen members may be reappointed for a term of two years. No nonlegislative citizen member shall serve more than four consecutive two-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.
The Commission shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership, who shall be members of the General Assembly. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. The meetings of the Commission shall be held at the call of the chairman or whenever the majority of the members so request. No recommendation of the Commission shall be adopted if a majority of the House members or a majority of the Senate members appointed to the Commission (i) vote against the recommendation and (ii) vote for the recommendation to fail notwithstanding the majority vote of the Commission.
§ 30-295. Compensation; expenses.
Legislative members of the Commission shall receive such compensation as provided in § 30-19.12, and nonlegislative citizen members shall receive such compensation for the performance of their duties as provided in § 2.2-2813. 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. However, all such compensation and expenses shall be paid from existing appropriations to the Commission or, if unfunded or underfunded, shall be approved by the Joint Committee on Rules.
§ 30-296. Powers and duties of the Commission.
The Commission shall have the following powers and duties:
1. Review, continue, and enlarge the work begun by the Governor’s Commission on Biotechnology, including, but not limited to, (i) determining how Virginia’s research universities, federal and state laboratories, biotechnology incubators, research parks, private industry, and other major resources can be leveraged to help make Virginia a more attractive location for the development and enhancement of the biosciences and biotechnology industry.
2. Determine how these resources may increase the development of the biotechnology industry through technology transfer and commercialization of new ideas and discoveries.
3. Assess how strategic initiatives in bioscience and biotechnology may generate economic development and investment in Virginia, particularly in rural and urban regions of the Commonwealth.
4. Examine Virginia’s workforce development status, including education, supply, and training needs relative to supporting viable bioscience research and biotechnology industry in the state.
5. Evaluate the capacity of bioscience and biotechnology to protect and preserve Virginia’s natural resources.
6. Investigate innovative directions in bioscience, including informational, technological, infrastructure, funding, long-term research goals, and regulatory needs in areas such as (i) biomedical research; (ii) genetic engineering; (iii) disease, growth and metabolism, and development and reproduction in livestock, fish and food animals; (iv) agricultural biotechnology; and (v) plant diseases and insect pests.
7. Define and recommend the optimal climate that is conducive to basic bioscientific and biotechnological research in Virginia.
8. Identify the type of bioscience and biotechnology industries that the Commonwealth is positioned to attract, recruit, and support due to the state’s workforce, location, and other advantages.
9. Consider the work and recommendations of the Governor’s Commission on Biotechnology, together with other bodies of research on the application of the biosciences and enhancement of the biotechnology industry, and develop and recommend a strategic and visionary plan that (i) implements certain of the recommendations deemed feasible and appropriate, (ii) establishes Virginia as a national and global leader in bioscience and biotechnology research and application by 2018, and (iii) enables the Commonwealth to maintain its national and global leadership thereafter.
10. Submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an annual report for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports. The chairman shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an annual executive summary of the interim activity and work of the Commission no later than the first day of each regular session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall be submitted for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.
11. Perform such other duties, functions, and activities as may be necessary to facilitate and implement the objectives of this chapter.
§ 30-297. Staffing.
Administrative staff support shall be provided by the Office of the Clerk of the House of Delegates or the Office of the Clerk of the Senate as may be appropriate for the house in which the chairman of the Commission serves. The Division of Legislative Services shall provide legal, research, policy analysis, and other services as requested by the Commission. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Commission, upon request.
2. That the provisions of this act shall not become effective unless an appropriation effectuating the purposes of this act is included in the 2008-2010 Appropriation Act passed by the 2008 Regular Session of the General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor.
3. That the provisions of this act shall expire on July 1, 2010.
Additional Data
Explanation
This is the actual text of the bill — the legislation itself. Generally this is amending existing law, proposing the addition or removal of words from laws that are already on the books.
Words that are highlighted in yellow are
proposed additions, and words that are crossed out in
red are proposed removals.
The numbers with the § symbol before them are references to existing laws, and if you click on them they’ll take you to that part of the law on the state's website.