A study released Monday by the General Assembly's investigative arm says Virginia's Tobacco Commission signed off on millions of dollars in economic development projects with a sketchy understanding of them, and some yielded little or no benefit in the state's poorest region.
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission said there was no way to measure outcomes for 89 percent of 1,368 project grants by the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission the past 11 years.
But Southside and Southwest Virginia _ regions of the state hit hard declines in tobacco, textile and other manufacturing industries the past 20 years _ clearly benefited from Tobacco Commission support for scholarships, job training and the deployment of high speed Internet, according to the 180-page report.
The commission, established in 1999 to disburse Virginia's share of the settlement from a national lawsuit against cigarette makers, has awarded $756 million in economic development and revitalization grants in 41 Virginia localities since 2000.
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