Legislation strengthening existing law requiring state agencies to be located in a downtown unanimously passed the Senate Appropriations Committee today. Sen. Dave Argall's Senate Bill 276 reinforces Act 32 of 2000, the original Downtown Location Law.

Since Argall's Downtown Location Law went into effect over 11 years ago, annually over 90 percent of all state government leases have been designated in downtown areas.Argall's legislation would require increased coordination between the Department of Community and Economic Development and organizations committed to community, downtown revitalization and historic preservation."We have seen this program yield considerable success in our efforts to revive our downtowns over the past decade, bringing jobs and commerce to areas that once lagged any initiative," said Argall. "This has proven to be an important economic development tool and this bill amends our existing law to improve our downtowns' job climate."The bill now moves to the Floor of the Senate for its consideration.