|
The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast
January 31, 2008. XII Session of the Tomsk Oblast State Duma
 39 issues on the agenda. In the course of the Session the Governor of Tomsk Oblast Viktor Kress delivered his annual message to the deputies of the Duma. The message had the title “Second impetus to the development of Tomsk Oblast”. In the first part of the message the head of the region summarized the main accomplishments of 2007, in the second part he dwelled upon new challenges in the development of Tomsk Oblast, and in the third part he formulated the 2008 goals.
The deputies approved the Strategy of State Youth Policy in Tomsk Oblast which became the first strategy of that kind in Russia to be adopted on the regional level. Implementation of this Strategy will allow to restructure the state youth policy and enhance its effectiveness due to the fact that young people make up the strategic development resource of Tomsk Oblast either. It is especially relevant for our region, because young people aged 14-30 constitute about 30% of the Oblast population. The principles of the state youth policy in Tomsk Oblast were formulated during parliament proceedings in summer 2007 and this year they were embodied in the final document.
The Oblast deputies approved the Tomsk Oblast Strategy of Physical Culture and Sport Development till 2015. According to the creators of the Strategy, its implementation will allow to lay the foundations for the development of a stronger and healthier generation, improve the system of training professional sportsmen, ensure social and physical adaptation of the disabled by means of physical culture and sport, raise involvement in physical activity among different population categories. The Strategy implies not only the construction of sports facilities but also salary increases for people working in physical culture and sport, promotion of sport among students, training of professional sportsmen, growth in the number of people going in for mass sports, etc.
The deputies passed in the first reading the draft law which determines the structure of budgetary service quality standard. This draft law is a framework bill which establishes general guidelines for the administrative authorities for development and adoption of the relevant quality standards of services in the social domain financed from the Oblast budget. Quality standards will be established in such spheres as education, culture, health care, social service and assistance, employment, youth policy, physical culture and sport. The standards will be developed by sectorial executive bodies. The deputies argued for the Oblast Duma to participate in the process of quality standards development and monitor observance of these standards in provision of budgetary services. The creators of the draft law pointed out that after the law had been passed, not just a system of standards would be created but all necessary tools to control quality of budgetary services and basic principles to evaluate the effectiveness of budgetary expenditures and efficiency of budgetary institutions.
The deputies submitted amendments to the Oblast Law On Turnover of Agricultural Lands in Tomsk Oblast. Recently, regional farming faced the situation where soil lots as part of lands under artificial irrigation could be sold, which threatens the integrity of irrigation systems for which government had spent millions of roubles. The amendments, adopted in two readings, rule out the possibility of division, which means that their functions will be preserved.
The law On Deputies’ Investigation in Tomsk Oblast was adopted in the first reading. The necessity to hold a deputies’ investigation arises when there is a need to trace the causes and circumstances of failures in the activities taking place in the region. The law on deputies’ investigation establishes principles and goals of such investigation, the procedure of creation and work of a relevant commission, authorities and rights of its members. According to the results of the investigation, the commission will submit for the deputies’ consideration its decision on the ways to eliminate causes of failures in the day-to-day life of the region. This law is a step towards creation of a professional approach to implementation of deputy authorities in exercising supervising functions by the State Duma of Tomsk Oblast.
The deputies considered a package of drafts on management and disposition of state property of Tomsk Oblast.
The deputies were also presented the 2008 work plan of the Control Chamber of the State Duma of Tomsk Oblast.
Legal Committee of the Tomsk Oblast State Duma reported its 2007 results.
From March 29 to December 31, 2007 19 meetings of the Committee were held, 200 decisions were made.
45 laws including 7 new were drawn up in the fields of state construction and local self-government; 38 laws were passed to alter current legislation and to annul several laws due to the changes in the federal legislation.
Two regional target programs were considered and recommended for adoption: Prevention of offences and other torts in Tomsk Oblast for 2008-2009 and Fire safety in public sector facilities of Tomsk Oblast for 2008-2010.
6 legislative initiatives were drawn up on introduction of drafts of federal laws in the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Rusian Federation.
Results of work for the past year reported by the Budgetary and Financial Committee of the Tomsk Oblast State Duma.
In 2007 the Budgetary and Financial Committee prepared for consideration by the Tomsk Oblast State Duma 112 resolutions on the socio-economic status of the region, budgetary, financial-credit and tax policies of Tomsk Oblast, regional and municipal property, inflow of receipts to the corresponding budgets.
During its meetings the Budgetary and Financial Committee discussed and prepared for adoption in the final version 62 Laws of Tomsk Oblast, including 27 base laws, that is new laws different from the laws about amendments. Among them fundamental Laws of Tomsk Oblast on the budgetary process and principles of creation of interbudgetary relations in Tomsk Oblast in the context of reforms in the local self-government and introduction of medium-term budget planning:
1) the Law of Tomsk Oblast On Interbudgetary Relations in Tomsk Oblast;
2) the Law of Tomsk Oblast On Budgetary Process in Tomsk Oblast;
3) the Law of Tomsk Oblast On Procedures of Selecting Investment Projects for Capital Development of Municipal Property; and Allocation of Subsidies to Finance these Projects from Oblast Budget.
In the field of taxation two laws were drawn up: the Law of Tomsk Oblast On Concessional Taxation in Tomsk Oblast and the Law of Tomsk Oblast On Simplified System of Patent Taxation in Tomsk Oblast.
For the first time the Committee adopted for 3 years coming the most important financial document of the region - the Law of Tomsk Oblast On 2008 Oblast Budget and Planning Period of 2009 and 2010..
The chairman of the State Duma of Tomsk Oblast Boris Maltsev held a traditional press-conference for journalists during the break.
In his answer to the question why we need the law on deputies’ investigation, the speaker pointed out that this law helps the deputies secure supervising functions of a legislative authority in the Oblast. Deputies’ investigations may only cover the events occurring in the territory of the region which had drawn a wide social and political response. Such laws are common for many countries in the world.
Boris Maltsev also evaluated the annual Governor’s message to the deputies. He said:
“The message provides a meaningful assessment of the status quo in the region. There are evident achievements in various domains but still there are obvious imperfections. In his message the Governor objectively evaluates the state of affairs in the regional economy and social aspects of life in the Oblast.”
The Chairman of the Duma shared with the journalists the immediate working plans of the regional legislative authotiry:
“Our regulatory framework is not consolidated enough to effectively protect our citizens. This is particularly true for relationships between the citizen and the communal services. Another important issue is the relationships between the citizen and health care institutions, and the third - citizen and commerce. These are the most topical problems which are the priority for our legislative activity.”
|
|
|
