Tech Talkin' Govs 2005, Part Five

The first four installments of SSTI's annual look at how TBED will play in the 2005 legislative priorities of the governors can be found in the Digest archives on our website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm

Kentucky

Gov. Ernie Fletcher, State of the Commonwealth Address, Feb. 1, 2005

"The tax plan I offer tonight includes incentives to help promote education and economic growth...I'm proposing a tuition tax credit of up to 500 dollars for each student going to Kentucky colleges and universities.

"...Additionally, several other incentives are included: a Kentucky enterprise initiative to give tax credits for hard construction and research and development costs...I’ve also proposed Brownfield credits, clean coal technology credits, environmental stewardship credits and alternative fuel credits. This plan promotes economic development while being environmentally responsible."

Illinois

Gov. Rod Blagojevich, State-of-the-State Address, Feb. 3, 2005

"We are creating a division within the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity whose sole purpose is to encourage companies that make homeland security products to either come to Illinois or expand in Illinois. We're going to take existing tax credits and programs, and use them in new ways to give companies that make homeland security products the financial incentives they need to make their products here.

"I’m asking our universities to work with us to develop a curriculum that trains our students to work in the homeland security industry. The better our workforce understands their industry, the more likely companies are to locate here."

Oklahoma

Gov. Brad Henry, State-of-the-State Address, Feb. 7, 2005

"...No longer can we abide overcrowded facilities, crumbling classrooms, obsolete equipment or deteriorating research labs. I urge this Legislature to join me in passing a $500-million capital bond issue for higher education – and to do it quickly while interest rates are low.

"Under my proposal, whenever the Rainy Day Fund is full, half of any excess funds will be returned to those who most deserve it, the taxpayers of Oklahoma...The other half of the excess funds should be invested in our future. These funds would help build the $1-billion EDGE research endowment to truly transform Oklahoma into the “Research Capital of the Plains."

"This proposal...was a key recommendation of our EDGE initiative. As we have seen from the incredible successes of OCAST, dollars invested in research and technology are dollars invested in job growth and prosperity. In fact, for every dollar we invest in research, we get 12 dollars in return. That’s a 1,200 percent return on our investment."

Tennessee

Gov. Phil Bredesen, State-of-the-State Address, Jan. 31, 2005

"I want to start focusing some extra attention on our flagship university, the University of Tennessee. I want UT to grow in stature as a first-rate teaching and research university...Top of the line universities do so much for their states. They power the economy, they build reputation, they keep the best and the brightest students at home...Don't stay #42, but also don't just dump in money in an unfocused way. This is a place for partnerships, and with institutions like Oak ridge National Laborary right in our backyard, we have a unique opportunity to begin this transformation at the University of Tennessee.

"I have recommended funds in the budget to be matched by the national lab to begin to attract more nationally-recognized faculty members. I also recommend some capital funds that are being augmented by substantial private investment to start providing infrastructure. There is an opportunity today for the University of Tennessee to rapidly become world class in some areas like supercomputers, materials science, and nanotechnology, and we need to grab it..."

"I've asked in this budget for a substantial commitment of money - $20 million this year - to improve our [economic development] efforts through incentives, through help with infrastructure, through job training."