Oregon Charts Course for Tech-Based ED

Economic development in Oregon recently has been given new life, thanks to the approval of $222 million in bills by Governor John Kitzhaber. The legislation, including $72 million for high-tech infrastructure and research over the next two years, is expected to increase public investment in biotechnology, engineering and other research.



On August 8, the Governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 832 to dedicate approximately $32 million per biennium of National Tobacco Settlement funding for the construction of facilities such as research labs, which will take advantage of information generated by Human Genome Project. Gov. Kitzhaber also approved $20 million to improve engineering education and increase the number of engineering graduates and another $20 million for construction of a new building for engineering education, signing SB 5524 and SB 5525 — the appropriations bill for the Oregon University System and the Oregon University System Capital Construction Budget, respectively. Additional bills receiving the Governor's signature are below:

• SB 273 to create the Oregon Council for Knowledge and Economic Development, which will help develop appropriate public policy to ensure future growth and competitiveness in Oregon;
• SB 102 to create the Higher Education Tech Transfer Account, which will provide a short-term mechanism to allow universities to hold equity in the products and companies created by their research;
• SB 101 to create the Higher Education Tech Transfer Fund, which will use declared earnings from the Oregon Growth Account to help technology transfer offices bring academic discoveries into useful commercial application; and
• HB 3968 to merge the Oregon Resource and Technology Development Account into the Oregon Growth Account and enable the Oregon Growth Account to provide seed capital for new companies developed out of university research.

Gov. Kitzhaber also signed House Bill (HB) 2275, authorizing the sale of bonds backed by Oregon Lottery proceeds and targeting the bonds at economic and community development projects in rural Oregon The bill designates $150 million to create a sustainable, revolving loan fund, which will allow for up to $50 million per biennium in grants and loans into perpetuity.



Supporters expect the $72 million in high-tech research funding to help prevent a brain drain of researchers in Oregon, according to the Associated Press. The Oregon Health & Science University, where the funding was signed into law by the Governor, reportedly is 34th in the U.S. in funding received from the National Institutes of Health. The State of Oregon presently has 75 biotech companies. To obtain more information on any of the bills mentioned above, visit the Oregon State Legislature at http://www.leg.state.or.us/