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Pennsylvania Tobacco Settlement may include VC, Research
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge has proposed that 15 percent of the Commonwealth’s expected $11 billion tobacco settlement monies be directed toward health-care related research and venture capital. Pennsylvania anticipates receiving between $397 and $459 million each year for the next 25 years.
Governor Ridge recommended ten percent of the settlement be spent on broad-based health research with funding targeted to Pennsylvania health priorities and Pennsylvania researchers and organizations. The $1.1 billion funding level is comparable to the amount committed to life sciences research by Michigan from its tobacco settlement funds; a similar proposal is pending in Ohio.
Under the Governor’s plan, five percent of the settlement would be used to create a new venture capital fund, capitalized over three years, to provide early stage investments for health-care related business development in Pennsylvania.
More information can be found at: http://db.state.pa.us/ctc/data/20000126.000.htm