Del Armstrong Renews Call For Tobacco Commission Reforms
June 12, 2011
Delegate Ward Armstrong renewed his call for reforms to the Tobacco Commission today in the wake of a report issued by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission
Armstrong Renews Call for Tobacco Commission Reforms
Delegate Ward Armstrong renewed his call for reforms to the Tobacco Commission today in the wake of a report issued by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) evaluating the performance of the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission (TICR). The report mirrored many of the same concerns and recommendations of a Blue Ribbon Panel chaired by Governor Baliles in 2008.
"The Tobacco Commission is a valuable, but finite, resource for the people of Southwest and Southside Virginia," Armstrong stated. "It is important for the General Assembly to ensure these funds are used effectively for long-term economic development projects. In light of JLARC's report, it is clear that significant structural changes should be made to the Tobacco Commission to make sure that these public funds are used in a responsible and accountable manner."
"JLARC found that unlike most grant making bodies, the Tobacco Commission does not have a consistent process for strategically setting priorities and funding guidelines, or collecting and analyzing meaningful outcomes from the projects that are selected for funding. One third of the grants awarded by the Tobacco Commission, totaling over $15 million dollars have been awarded to projects with limited potential for economic revitalization," Armstrong continued. "Additionally, the Commission does not take into account areas under the most economic stress when awarding funds. For example, Martinsville is ineligible for Southside economic development funds, despite having the highest unemployment rate in the region."
JLARC has made several recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission including:
· TICR should implement a formal process for biennially collecting input on the region's economic development priorities. This information should be used to set priorities, revise the strategic plan, and develop region-wide economic development strategies.
· TICR should consider including factors of economic stress in determining awards and prioritize awards to the most economically challenged localities.
· TICR should require all applicants to provide baseline figures, explicit and quantified outcome expectations, the methodology used to calculate outcome expectations, details on timing of expected outcomes, and a specific link to economic revitalization and TICR's strategic plan.
· TICR should conduct more site visits each year to evaluate the performance of commission funded projects.
· TICR should develop and implement a means to track, systematically and reliably, its overall investment in each project and locality.
During the 2011 legislative session, Armstrong introduced legislation which would have brought increased oversight and accountability to the Tobacco Commission. HB2114 sought to replace legislators serving on the commission with non-legislative citizen members. Removing legislators ensures that money is directed away from short-term pet projects and towards long-term projects that would have increase economic development in the region. HB2115 required JLARC to oversee biennial performance audits of the Tobacco Commission to ensure the Commission is successfully and efficiently achieving its mission statement to revitalize tobacco-dependent communities. Both bills were defeated by the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources subcommittee.
"I hope to return to the General Assembly for the 2012 session and once again introduce legislation that will address the recommendations of both JLARC and the Blue Ribbon Panel to improve the performance and accountability of the Tobacco Commission, as well as ensure continued oversight of these funds," stated Armstrong. "It is my hope that the General Assembly will take an interest in these finding and make certain that these public funds are used responsibly and effectively to help revitalize southwest and Southside Virginia."
