LAWMAKERS IN MISSOURI ARE SET TO OK . . . $13.4 MILLION . . . FOR THE LIFE SCIENCES TRUST FUND. ACTION BEEFS UP STATE'S BID FOR TWO FEDERAL RESEARCH C

BYLINE: By Rachel Melcer ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Missouri lawmakers are poised to approve $13.4 million in funding for agricultural biotechnology projects, which could help the state's bid for a pair of high-profile federal research centers.

The appropriation for the Life Sciences Trust Fund has cleared both chambers. It is part of a larger appropriations bill, House Bill 7, that is expected to be approved before a Friday deadline for this year's spending measures.

The bill's progress so far prompted Gov. Matt Blunt to declare victory Monday at the Biotechnology Industry Organization's 2007 international convention in Boston. He is among 150 Missourians touting the state's life science strengths to nearly 20,000 participants at the annual biotechnology trade show.

"This thing is, for all intents and purposes, done," Mike Mills, deputy director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, said in a telephone interview. He also is attending the BIO convention.

"We will use that $13.4 million to the maximum benefit and highest efficiency, and we're already talking to government and business leaders about how to do that," he said.

The trust fund was set up in 2003 to receive 25 percent of the state's annual tobacco-settlement money beginning last year. The pending appropriation falls short of that level, which would have totaled about $35.7 million, but is an improvement over last year's amount: zero.

Both years, the appropriation was ensnared in controversy over embryonic stem cell research, which critics liken to abortion. Some lawmakers have raised the argument that the trust fund could be used to pay for this type of research.

Having the money appropriated this year fleshes out the Life Science Research Board, which has been a shell with no money to spend. Once it receives funds, it can begin to set up infrastructure and build relationships, Mills said.

The appropriation has limits, however. It is only for this year, rather than becoming an annual expenditure as initially envisioned.

It also limits the research board to spending on animal health and veterinary medicine, biofuels and other agricultural projects.

That board and the governor have identified a pair of priorities: sweetening the state's bids for a $125 million Energy Department Bioenergy Research Center and a $450 million Homeland Security Department National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility.

Either could bring hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity to Missouri, state officials have said.