SSTI Digest

After training nearly 80 PhD scientists and engineers in the craft of policy making, the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) has awarded planning grants to nine other states to evaluate the potential to create a policy fellowship for scientists and engineers in their state capital.  The new one-year grant, which is administered by CCST and funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Simons Foundation, will support teams in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Washington as they work on feasibility studies and other strategic steps toward creating science fellowships in their state policy arenas. It is up to each state to design the fellowship that would work best in their state, whether that is a position in the legislature or another body.

More governors delivered their state of the state addresses and this week we bring you TBED news from governors around the country. Areas of focus include tech infrastructure needs, diversifying economies, cybersecurity and education. While some governors are giving their inaugural addresses, Gov. Nikki Haley used her time to bid farewell. Following are excerpts from the past week’s addresses.

Colorado

Gov. John Hickenlooper gave his annual state of the state address last Thursday, focusing on infrastructure needs – notably roads, but also tech needs:

“We need a comprehensive focus on infrastructure that supports not just transportation, but also broadband, education, healthcare, and our environment.

 “Today, I’m announcing the creation of a broadband office to help us get from 70% to 85% coverage by the time we leave office and 100% by 2020.

As governors around the country are releasing their proposed budgets, SSTI is examining the proposals for TBED initiatives and will be presenting the findings here. This week Idaho, Maine and Washington are reviewed. Check back in the coming weeks for updates.

Idaho

In his FY18 budget proposal, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter recommends approximately $2.1 million for economic and workforce development efforts at institutions of higher education including:

$652,900 for a new PhD program in computing with computer science, cybersecurity, and computational science and engineering specializations; and $381,500 for the venture college program expansion to deliver innovation and entrepreneurial skill sets to students.

In addition to these efforts, Gov. Otter proposes a transfer of $35 million to the Permanent Building Fund for higher-education facilities throughout Idaho including:

Since the beginning of July, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) has announced almost $7.3 million in grants to support advanced manufacturing and support workforce development efforts in communities impacted by the decline coal industry. In Florida and Washington, the EDA announced funding to support the facilities that can house local manufacturing firms and provide the space and equipment necessary for them to create jobs. In New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, the EDA accessed funding made available through EDA's Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) and Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) initiative to support workforce development efforts that address job losses due to the decline of coal industries in those states.

Florida

A bipartisan group of 17 governors signed the Governors’ Accord for a New Energy Future – a joint commitment to support the deployment of renewable, cleaner and more efficient energy technologies and other solutions to make the U.S. economy more productive and resilient as well as spur job creation in member states. The multi-state effort will work to implement clean energy policies and initiatives in four areas: clean energy, clean transportation choices, a modern electrical grid, and plan for a new energy future. Although the accord doesn’t provide specific efforts, senior advisors to participating governors are expected to convene shortly to discuss initial steps to pursue their shared priorities and commitments according to solarindustrymag.com.

The National Governors Association’s (NGA) Center for Best Practices launched the 2016 Policy Academy on Scaling Work-Based Learning – a pilot program in six states that blends work experience and applied learning to develop youth and young adults’ foundational and technical skills to expand their education, career and employment opportunities. The goal of the program is to connect 16- to 29-year-olds with middle-skills career opportunities in STEM-intensive industries such as advanced manufacturing, health care, information technology and energy. The six states that will take part in the 18-month pilot program include Indiana, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, Utah, and Washington.  Read the press release: http://www.nga.org/cms/home/news-room/news-releases/2015--news-releases/col2-content/states-look-to-increase-career.default.html. 

SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series has returned as governors across the country formally convene the 2015 legislative sessions. The series highlights new and expanded TBED proposals from governors' State of the State, Budget and Inaugural addresses.

The second installment of this year’s series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Read last week’s installment featuring speeches in California, Kentucky and Vermont here.

 

ArizonaGov. Doug Ducey, State of the State Address, Jan. 12, 2015“… Last week, I signed an order placing a moratorium on new regulations in the executive branch. It was a good beginning, but only a beginning.

Purdue University, the University City Science Center, and Washington State University announced the creation of new investment funds to support the growth of university-affiliated startups in their respective communities. These three recently announced commercialization funds all share a common trend – they will be managed or assisted in the management process via public-private partnerships. In Baton Rouge, LA, the Research Park Corporation also announced the creation of a fund to assist Louisiana State University researchers compete for commercialization funding from the university.

Purdue UniversityIn partnership with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, the Purdue Foundry announced the creation of the Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund, a three-year, $2 million fund to support qualified Purdue-affiliated startups. The funds are intended to support a startup venture that will commercialize licensed Purdue University intellectual property or that will leverage other Purdue assets such as research collaborations. It will offer two levels of support:

This article is part of SSTI's series on trends in state technology-based economic development legislation in 2014. Read our other entries covering legislative action on patent reform, capital & tax credits, technology commercialization & infrastructure, workforce & STEM and manufacturing & clusters.

Pointing to the growth potential in jobs and health within the life sciences industry sector, Gov. Jay Inslee vetoed a $20 million cut in funding to the nine-year-old Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF), allowing the fund to honor existing commitments and proceed with the 2013-14 Proof of Concept grant program and Entrepreneur Mentoring grant program. The state’s budget director David Schumacher said the sheer volume of letters from biotech companies in support of saving the fund carried weight in the governor’s decision, reports The Olympian.

LSDF invests monies from the Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement in R&D that demonstrates the strongest potential for delivering health and economic returns to the state.

Moving forward, John Des Rosier, executive director of the fund, said the group has been engaged in a strategic planning process to diversify funding for future years and the recent legislative session has prompted them to act with more urgency. LSDF’s tobacco settlement funding is scheduled to run out in 2017.

Maria Contreras-Sweet has been confirmed as the administrator of the Small Business Administration.

Larry Ferguson has been chosen as the vice chancellor for economic development and workforce solutions at Kentucky Community College and Technical System.

Rebecca Lovell has been selected as the startup liaison for the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development.

 

Investments and policy to support innovation-focused agendas have flourished with the close of the 2014 legislative sessions in several states. Crowdfunding legislation, incentives for attracting talent, higher education affordability, punishing patent trolls, and encouraging greater accountability are some of the areas where lawmakers focused their efforts.