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Last week, Congress passed HR 2862, the fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill for State, Science, Justice, and Commerce. SSTI covered the federal budget request in the Feb. 14 issue of the Digest.

The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) has released the 92-page summary report for its 14th annual survey of university licensing, revealing steady growth in the field. AUTM U.S. Licensing Survey: FY 2004 provides quantitative information about licensing activities at universities, hospitals and research institutions across North America.

A recent $10 billion judgment against Philip Morris may have the tobacco giant filing bankruptcy. Philip Morris has claimed it cannot post a $12 billion bond to appeal a lawsuit in Illinois or even meet the $2.6 billion payment due mid-April for the 1998 settlement with the states.

Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell recently unveiled an economic stimulus program that will invest nearly $2 billion in bonds and loan guarantees. The stimulus program is intended to leverage at least $5 billion in private investment in economic development projects, creating jobs in Pennsylvania's small and mid-size cities and towns.

Key provisions of Plan for a New Pennsylvania include:

The past week has marked the beginning of two public initiatives in Washington State to increase the availability of financing for technology firms.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has posted an online version of its 304-page analysis of the research and development portion of the President's FY04 budget request. After a five-chapter overview, which includes a brief look at declining industrial R&D expenditures, the report breaks down the $122.5 billion request for R&D for seven federal agencies.

An update to Louisiana: Vision 2020, a strategic plan to improve the Louisiana economy, calls for creating more quality jobs in the state's high growth sectors. First released by the Louisiana Economic Development Council in 1998, the newly revised plan also stresses the need to place increased importance on early childhood education, teacher quality and math and reading performance among high school students as keys to boosting student achievement.

The business incubation industry has grown dramatically since 1998, both in the number of programs in operation and the depth and breadth of services they offer, according to 2002 State of the Business Incubation Industry, a recent report by the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA).

Corporate, community and independent foundations can be significant sources of funding for local and regional technology-based economic development initiatives. Unfortunately, the first look at growth and giving estimates for 2002 and 2003, suggests foundations may be less charitable than previous years to new and existing grantees.

A recent study released by the AeA reported a decline of 560,000 high-tech jobs in the U.S. over the period from January 2001 to December 2002. However, AeA’s Tech Employment Update may not show the true magnitude of the decrease in high-tech jobs, as the AeA definition of high-tech excludes many industrial sectors with significant R&D investments.

Two of SSTI's sister organizations for promoting technology-based economic development (TBED) had items of potential interest to the readers of the SSTI Weekly Digest in their e-newsletters this week. The highlights below include links for more information.

The Institute for Government Innovations has announced it is accepting applications for the 17th Annual Innovations in American Government Awards, ultimately to identify outstanding examples of creative problem solving in the public sector.

As off-year elections go, the Nov. 8, 2005, election was pretty quiet across the country if you weren't running for mayor in one of 300-plus municipalities up for grabs or governor of New Jersey or Virginia.

New Jersey and Virginia were the only two states to choose governors in November 2005, with both states having open races. Below is a description of each governor-elect's position on TBED.

Last Tuesday's election included a major bond package in Maine, a constitutional amendment in Ohio to complete the Third Frontier initiative, budget reform in New York, and additional TBED items in Iowa and Texas. Following are the results from some of the major ballot and bond issues within the states.

As states have wrestled with budget constraints in recent years, many have adopted or are contemplating spending-limit measures, such as Colorado's Taypayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR), or similar fiscal limitations that restrain growth of government spending. In the recent November elections, California voters rejected a spending-limit proposal and Colorado voters suspended their state's restrictive TABOR amendment, allowing the state to keep funds for the next five years.

Southern Growth Policies Board, a regional public policy think tank, is accepting nominations for its Innovator Awards.

The Ontario Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation has launched a two-phase, $30 million program intended to accelerate the development of Ontario's biotechnology cluster. The Biotechnology Cluster Innovation Program (BCIP) will support biotechnology infrastructure projects that will help create new companies.

Most practitioners who have been in the tech-based economic development field long enough know the presence of a strong research university can make the job much easier. New innovations and technologies to commercialize through licensing and spinoff companies, research facilities and experts to partner with local companies, and a constant supply of fresh graduates for the workforce are just a few of the benefits a research institution can offer the local and regional economy.

The National Center for Small Communities (NCSC) is offering a new toolkit to help small communities establish more competitive positions in the knowledge economy through aggressive information technology adoption strategies.

Factors such as globalization, trade liberalization and consumer preferences have changed the way agricultural research is conducted, and advances in biotechnology and genomics, ecosystem science and social science have altered the overall agricultural landscape. However, the United States' leading agricultural research service is not quite ready to adapt to this changing environment with its traditional organizational structure, states a new report published by the National Academies.

A technically-skilled workforce is one of the elements required for a tech-based economy, so the issue of stopping the brain drain is of critical importance to some regions and states.  The choice for some states, it has been observed, is to turn into retirement homes or to retain their college graduates; in short, to avoid losing their minds.  Maine, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are just a few of the states that have been looking at the issue.

A recent study by the Council for Education Policy, Research and Improvement finds that State University System Centers and Institutes (C&Is) in Florida are cost-effective and creative settings for scientific discovery, technological innovation, policy development, teaching and instruction and public outreach activities.

Correction: In last week's People column, Tom Walker's new title was incorrect. Mr Walker is executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center.

Richard Greene, director of the Arlington Technology Incubator and former mayor of Arlington Texas, has been appointed regional administrator of the U.S. EPA.

Correction: In last week's People column, Tom Walker's new title was incorrect. Mr Walker is executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center.