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2017 SESSION

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SB 1371 Virginia Research Investment Committee; expands role of Committee.

Introduced by: Richard L. Saslaw | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS ENACTED WITH GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION: (all summaries)

Virginia Research Investment Committee. Expands the role of the Virginia Research Investment Committee (the Committee) to include, in addition to awarding grants and loans from the Virginia Research Investment Fund, providing guidance and coordination in the use of public funds to support research and commercialization efforts throughout the Commonwealth. Effective January 1, 2018, the bill moves responsibility for the development of the Commonwealth Research and Technology Strategic Roadmap (the Roadmap) from the Center for Innovative Technology to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (the Council), which shall submit the plan to the Committee for approval. The Council would consult with public institutions of higher education, make recommendations on the industry sectors in which the Commonwealth should focus its research and development efforts, and establish a process for maintaining an inventory of the Commonwealth's current research and development efforts. Before implementation, the Council would submit the Roadmap to the Governor for final approval. The Roadmap would be used to determine areas of focus for awards from the Virginia Research Investment Fund and the Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund.

The bill also clarifies that the exemption from mandatory disclosure of records under the Freedom of Information Act by applicants for grants and loans from the Committee applies to certain financial records, trade secrets, and research-related information. The bill requires an applicant seeking to invoke the protections of the exemption to submit a written request to the Committee identifying the records or data for which protection is sought and stating the reason why protection is necessary. Under the bill, the exemption also applies to documents prepared exclusively for the application review by the Committee, its staff, or a reviewing entity conducting a scientific review at the request of the Committee. The closed meeting exemption is also amended to include interviews of applicants by the Committee or a reviewing entity conducting a scientific review.

The bill contains technical amendments. This bill is identical to HB 2245.


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