Legislative Updates: Arizona, New Jersey Reach Budget Agreements

With less than two weeks to go before the new fiscal year, Arizona and New Jersey lawmakers approved funding for cutting-edge research at the close of their 2007 legislative sessions last week. Following is a synopsis of the TBED initiatives slated to receive funding under the respective budget agreements.

 

Arizona

Following several months of debate, Arizona lawmakers reached a budget agreement last week that is on target with many of Gov. Janet Napolitano’s priorities, including investments in innovation and education (see the Jan. 22, 2007 issue of the Digest).

 

The fiscal year 2008 budget, signed earlier this week by Gov. Napolitano, includes $25 million per year over the next four years for the 21st Century Fund "to promote bioscience programs and research." The fund was created by the legislature in 2006 as a public-private partnership to invest in medical, scientific and engineering research programs (see the June 26, 2006 issue of the Digest).

 

The Arizona Department of Commerce budget includes $1.8 million to foster business initiatives that include growth in high-tech sectors, foreign direct investment in Arizona, and strategic R&D.

 

The budget also includes increased funding for higher education and K-12 to support Gov. Napolitano’s One Arizona Education Initiative. General fund spending for universities would increase by 11.9 percent over last year, which includes $25 million for biomedicine initiatives. This funding is slated to:

• Provide monies for the design of the Phoenix biomedical campus ($10.5 million);
• Accelerate the expansion of the Phoenix Medical School ($6 million);
• Expand allied health ($4 million) and biomedical informatics ($2 million) programs; and,
• Develop both a telemedicine ($1 million) and doctorate of pharmacy program in Phoenix ($1.5 million).

The universities’ general fund budget also includes $2.3 million for a teacher loan initiative to increase the number of math and science teachers in the state.

 

Direct assistance to K-12 schools will increase by 8.3 percent under the budget agreement. This appropriation includes $46 million for additional teacher salary increases, $4.7 million for math and science education, and $2 million for Master Teachers, to cultivate and retain a talented workforce.

 

Other general fund appropriations include $1 million per year over the next five years to the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission for the regenerative tissue repository, a non-embryonic stem cell bank.

 

The FY 2008 proposed budget agreement is available at: http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/budgetagree061807.pdf

 

New Jersey

The New Jersey Legislature also approved the state’s FY 2008 budget last week, which includes major investments in science, technology and cancer research.

 

The New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology will receive $22.6 million, $21.3 million of which is for science and technology grants. In addition, $630,000 is set aside for the business incubator network, and the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program will receive $600,000.

 

Also included in the state Department of Treasury budget is $5.5 million for the New Jersey Stem Cell Research Institute and $1.2 million in grants for a statewide systematic initiative to reform mathematics and science education.

 

The state Department of Health and Senior Services budget includes $25.2 million for the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, $32 million for cancer research, and $1 million to the New Jersey State Commission on Cancer Research.

 

The appropriations bill is available at: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bills/BillView.asp