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Several bills aimed at supporting startups, advancing research and improving the workforce have been introduced with the start of the 2014 sessions. Some of the proposed legislation offers a glimpse into the investment priorities of governors and lawmakers in the wake of economic recovery. Providing innovative companies with access to startup funds is a continued theme from previous years. Some states are seeking to expand tax credits for angel investors or offer new tax credits to encourage emerging industries. Other bills focus on generating more skilled workers quickly and positioning universities to enhance regional economic competitiveness.

A bill to consolidate several organizations and entrepreneurship efforts into one office led by the lieutenant governor passed in the Indiana General Assembly with unanimous support from both chambers. HB 1332 combines the Young Entrepreneurs Program, the Small Business Development Center and the Small Business Ombudsman into a single entity know as the Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently announced the Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP), a new $230 million public-private venture to transform the current model for developing new diagnostics and treatments by jointly identifying and validating promising biological targets of disease. The first phase of AMP will begin with pilot projects in three disease areas — Alzheimer’s disease, Type 2 diabetes and lupus. NIH and its partners will make the AMP data and analyses publicly accessible to the broad biomedical community.

Recent court decisions regarding high-speed Internet competition and net neutrality have put U.S. broadband competitiveness on uncertain terrain. Despite two decades of publically supported high-speed data infrastructure efforts, many rural areas still lack access and even densely populated areas remain underserved.  New statewide efforts in Kentucky, Minnesota and Iowa have been announced to improve broadband services and boost economic competitiveness. In addition, Google has announced that it will expand its ultra-fast fiber services to nine more cities across the country.

A proposal first announced during Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2013 State of the State address came to fruition earlier this month with a request for proposals (RFP) to fund clean energy projects through New York’s newly established green bank. A green bank is a state-sponsored nonprofit lender that provides long-term, low-cost financing support. Its purpose is to increase public-private investing in clean energy while offering consumers lower-cost energy solutions, according to the Green Bank Academy. Connecticut was the first state to establish a green bank in 2011, but several other states have demonstrated interest. Participants from at least 11 other states wanting to establish their own green banks recently attended the first Green Bank Academy in Washington, D.C.

Los Angeles County (CA), New York County (NY) and Cook County (IL) topped the list of places where people older than 25 with graduate or professional degrees moved to between 2007 and 2011, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s County-to-County Migration Flows Tables. Middlesex County (MA) and Fairfax County (VA) also ranked among the top destinations for highly educated transplants. The Census report provides data on domestic migration at the county level, including data on income and educational attainment.

The latest Department of Defense-led manufacturing innovation institutes will support cutting-edge research and product development in lightweight and modern metals and digital manufacturing and design. A consortium of 73 companies, nonprofits and universities will help launch the Chicago-based institute. The Detroit-area based consortium involves 60 partners.

The Department of Labor announced it will commit up to $150 million to the Ready to Work Partnership grant competition — a program that supports and scales innovative  public-private partnerships to build a pipeline of talented U.S. workers in middle- and high-skill jobs.

University-focused initiatives that help bring new technologies and products to market help drive regional economic development and encourage an entrepreneurial culture on campuses. SSTI’s latest Trends in TBED report featured a number of commercialization efforts launched in 2013, including university-based funds to support ideas from faculty, staff and alumni. So far, 2014 also has proven active in this area with the announcement of several new initiatives to support university technology startups.

In keeping with the commitment made in his State of the Union address to reform the American patent system, President Obama announced a series of executive actions to improve the quality and accessibility of the patenting process. White House officials also reiterated the call for more sweeping changes to the system from Congress and provided an update on the previous series of executive orders related to intellectual property issued in June of last year. At the same time, the U.S.

U.S. patents continued their rapid pace of growth in 2013, according to statistics from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  USPTO granted 122,593 utility patents last year, a 10 percent increase over the previous year and a 72 percent increase over 2008.

John Sider has accepted a position with Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes and the PA Senate Democratic Caucus to work on economic development policy and projects, effective April 1. Currently, Sider is the managing director of statewide initiatives at Ben Franklin Technology Partners.

Vic Nole has joined the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. as director of business development and entrepreneurial activity.

While President Obama’s FY15 budget request is unlikely to find much support in Congress this year, the document has traditionally served as a useful guide to the administration’s priorities and to federal programs related to research, regional economic development, manufacturing, entrepreneurship and STEM education.

The president’s FY15 budget request for the Department of Commerce (DOC) totals $8.8 billion in discretionary funding (6.9 percent increase over FY14 enacted), with increased funding for most agencies and programs related to research, technology transfer, advanced manufacturing and regional economic development. The department would play a key role in the administration’s Opportunity, Growth and Security Initiative (OGSI), managing the planned expansion of the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) to include 45 institutes over the next 10 years.

The administration’s FY15 budget request in discretionary funding for the Department of Energy (DOE) is $27.9 billion (1 percent decrease from FY14), of which $12.3 billion would support R&D (8.4 percent increase) and $4.2 billion would support investment in the Department’s applied energy sector programs to drive an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy sector innovation. The proposed budget would provide substantial increases for funding advanced manufacturing and clean energy R&D.

The FY15 budget request for the Department of Defense (DOD) would provide $495.6 billion (0.1 percent decrease) in discretionary base funding. DOD is proposing a strategic rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region as the war in Afghanistan nears an end, while also maintaining a military presence and engagement with allies and partners in the greater Middle East. The budget supports this adjustment and makes strategic investments in areas identified as priorities, such as increasing security challenges and opportunities in cyberspace, continuing to invest in R&D to feed innovation in both the military and civilian sectors, and combating terrorism.

The FY15 budget request for the Department of Education (ED) totals $68.6 billion (1.9 percent increase) in total discretionary funding. An overhaul of P-12 STEM education programs and a ConnectED initiative providing next-generation broadband and high-speed wireless network support to students and teachers are among the new proposals.

The administration’s FY15 budget request for the Department of the Interior (DOI) would provide $11.7 billion (0.3 percent increase) in discretionary funding. DOI would receive $888.7 million (7.3 percent increase) for research and development activities. Of the proposed R&D budget, $94.8 million (3.5 percent increase) would be allocated to DOI’s Powering Our Future initiative, which supports renewable energy projects on federal lands and waters.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) would receive $27.4 billion in FY15 discretionary funding under the president’s budget request, a 0.4 percent increase.

The president’s FY15 budget would provide $11.8 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Labor (DOL), a 1.9 percent decrease from FY14 enacted levels. In addition, the administration’s Opportunity, Growth and Security Initiative (OGSI) would provide $2.4 billion not accounted for in the departmental budget to expand the agency’s workforce training and apprenticeship programs. Most DOL programs related to high-tech and manufacturing industries reside within the department’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), which would receive $3.3 billion (3.4 percent increase).

The president’s FY15 budget request for the Department of Transportation (DOT) totals $90.8 billion (25.7 percent increase), including the first installment of $73.6 billion for a $302.3 billion four-year surface transportation reauthorization proposal that would improve U.S. surface transportation systems. DOT would be allocated $865 million to support research and development (R&D) efforts across the department. Several administrations under DOT would see limited change in their R&D budgets. Funding for various research and development initiatives include:

The administration’s FY14 request for the Department of the Treasury’s domestic programs is $13.8 billion (9.2 percent increase). Under the proposed budget, Treasury would continue to fund programs focused on economic development, small business support, and job creation.

The administration’s FY15 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is $38.2 billion (2 percent decrease) in non-disaster, net discretionary funding, excluding disaster relief funding. The proposed budget includes funding for major asset acquisitions, including $300 million for completing the construction of the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility. The proposed budget also includes $549 million to support the EINSTEIN intrusion, detection, and prevention cybersecurity system.

The president’s FY15 budget request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is $47.7 billion, a 2.6 percent increase. The administration’s Growth, Opportunity and Security Initiative proposes $280 million for HUD to support comprehensive revitalization in high-poverty neighborhoods and for the Promise Zones Initiative.

The president’s FY15 budget request of $7.9 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reflects a 3.8 percent decrease from FY14 enacted. However, funding for science and technology programs would increase by 0.6 percent under the budget proposal. Priority funding areas for EPA R&D in FY15 include research in potential endocrine disrupting chemicals, human health risk assessment, air quality, sustainable approaches to environmental protection, and safe drinking water.