Budget Update: FL Gov Vetoes $461M, RI Approves $100M for Economic Development

Over the past few months, SSTI has followed proposals issued by governors in their budget requests, State of the State Addresses, Inaugural Speeches and other events. Now that many governors have signed spending bills, the SSTI Digest will check on the status of these proposals, and examine the state of technology-based economic development funding in the states. This week, we review actions in Florida and Rhode Island.

Florida
Gov. Rick Scott signed a $78.7 billion FY16 budget (SB 2502-A) on Tuesday, vetoing $461 million in spending. The lengthy list of vetoed funding for projects includes:

• $23.1 million for the State Economic Enhancement and Development Trust Fund;
• $15 million for a downtown Orlando expansion of the University of Florida through a partnership with the Florida High-Tech Corridor Council;
• $10 million for equipment for the International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research;
• $9.25 million for biomedical research at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, the Torry Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, the Roskamp Institute for Oncology Drug Development, the Scripps Research Institute and the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute; and,
• $2.5 million for the Florida Institute of Technology Space Research program.

Funding for several K-12 advanced manufacturing education and training programs was also vetoed.

The budget includes $19.3 million for grants and aid though Enterprise Florida and $7.5 million through the Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research.

The final budget provides $26.6 million for the CareerSource Florida workforce training initiative. Florida's newly named MEP center, FloridaMakes, will receive $500,000 in state funds.

Rhode Island
Gov. Gina Raimondo has announced her intention to sign the state's $8.7 billion fiscal year 2016 budget (H 5900 Substitute A) this week, according to the Providence Journal. The governor's office outlines almost $100 million in economic development tools in the budget, including the Rebuild RI Real Estate Tax Credit, which will encourage construction projects with $60 million over five years.

Other economic development allocations include a Job Creation Tax credit for employers that create high-quality positions, an Anchor Tax Credit for large, innovative employers, and an Innovative Voucher Program to connect businesses to university research resources.

The budget provides $1.15 million for the STAC Research Alliance and $1 million for Innovative Matching Grants/Internships. The budget raises the cap on the SBIR/STTR matching grants awarded through STAC from $100,000 to $150,000.