Nov. 2, 2009, 12:00 a.m. - Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced that three Virginia information technology projects have received prestigious national Recognition Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Information Technology from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers.  

The honored projects include:

·        “Virginia Performs: Virginia's Performance Leadership and Accountability System”—Council on Virginia’s Future; in the category Data, Information and Knowledge Management;

·        “Virginia.gov Portal Widgets”—Virginia Information Technologies Agency; in the category Government to Citizen; and

·        “Virginia Technology Portfolio 2.0”—Virginia Information Technologies Agency; in the category IT Project and Portfolio Management

“Performance management and transparency have been key priorities for my administration, and the awards exemplify these themes,” Kaine said. “This honor from our peers affirms both our direction and our use of information technology to improve government accountability and service.”

         Kaine also announced that $28.7 million in refinancing savings would be distributed to 28 Virginia school divisions and the Literary Fund. The Virginia Public School Authority recently refinanced certain outstanding bonds for interest rate savings. Savings will be distributed to localities in the form of a one-time credit against their July 2010 debt service payment. Savings range between $38,287 and $5,018,241. 

“I am delighted that we have been able to provide savings for these localities at a time when they are struggling to balance their budgets,” Kaine said. “We will continue to monitor for additional refinancing opportunities to provide financial assistance to localities as we continue to deal with the economic crisis.”

 

“The authority, under the chairmanship of James Holland, acted quickly to lock in lower rates while borrowing costs for highly-rated issuers, such as VPSA, approached 42-year lows,” said State Treasurer Manju Ganeriwala.

 

Localities receiving savings were participants in the seven earlier VPSA bond issues that were refinanced with the Series 2009 C refunding bonds. The amount of savings credit for any locality is determined by the locality’s participation in the earlier bond issues—the larger the original bond amount, the larger the savings. The Literary Fund will also benefit, receiving approximately $4.5 million in savings from local borrowings originally subsidized by the Literary Fund.

 

        Kaine also noted that state agencies have reported more than 5,900 jobs created or saved from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds flowing through the State Treasury. To date, more than $5 billion in ARRA contracts, grants and loans have been awarded in Virginia, with more than half in the form of direct aid to localities and organizations outside of state government.

 

“President Obama’s Recovery Act was intended to get the economy moving again and in Virginia we are beginning to see that occur,” Kaine said. “These funds have allowed us to begin construction on infrastructure projects that we would not have been able to build, keep our Medicaid plan funded, improve our schools and in some cases build new ones, and expand unemployment benefits to those most affected by the economic crisis.”