policy

Maine voters approved a special referendum on June 13 that will issue $50 million in bonds to fund investment in research, development and commercialization in the state’s seven targeted technology sectors. The Maine Technology Institute will distribute $45 million of the funds for infrastructure, equipment and technology upgrades. The remaining $5 million will be used to recapitalize the Small Enterprise Growth Fund to create jobs and economic growth by lending to or investing in qualifying small businesses. The issue passed with 61 percent (63,468) voting in favor and 38 percent (39,549) voting against it (the remaining 1 percent were blank) and passed in every county in Maine. It is the latest in a string of referendum wins in Maine and a reminder to all of us of the political appeal that investing in technology has.

The bioscience industry has had a positive impact on states’ economies and continues to be a driver of economic growth according to a new report from Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). State lawmakers have recognized the importance of the industry, the authors state, and have responded to challenges facing the bioscience companies with legislative efforts focused on a supportive business climate, including increasing available funding, particularly for emerging companies in their state, and leveraging academic and medical research facilities to create strategically planned campus extensions such as Smart Zones or Innovation Zones that contain incubator space and incentives for start-up companies.

In an unexpected twist, the FY 2017 budget passed earlier this month by Congress has more dislikes than likes for evidence-based program and policy design, despite being embraced strongly by both Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama. Masked under a variety of different nomenclatures – performance contracting, social impact bonds, pay for success, for example – evidence-based programming incorporates rigorous metrics to assess the effectiveness of public policy toward meeting its goals and basing expenditures accordingly. The largest initiative testing its merit in federal funding outlays was the Social Innovation Fund, housed within the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). Congress eliminated the entire $54 million for the program, which had supported dozens of pay for success pilot programs across the country.

The U.S. House Science Committee released a letter last week reasserting the majority party’s interest in setting R&D priorities for federal science agencies and supporting appropriation levels that generally align with the White House’s budget blueprint. The letter notes priorities for most of the $42 billion in R&D budgets within the committee’s purview, including the following:

The Trump administration’s initial proposal of a $54 billion increase in defense spending with the same amount being cut from non-defense spending would alter spending rules established in 2013, which set a cap on discretionary spending across the federal government and affected defense and non-defense spending equally. Press reports have indicated congressional opposition to this approach with a key House appropriator commenting, "The president will propose, and the Congress will dispose.” While the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has provided top-line numbers to individual agencies as it works in preparing the FY 2018 budget request, those figures have not been released publicly. The full FY 2018 budget proposal is expected in late spring with an outline to be released mid-March.

A fourth annual review of career and technical education (CTE) and career-readiness policies, found an increase in policy action carried out by states in 2016 with several states – including California, Idaho, Indiana and Virginia – passing packages of legislation that impacted multiple elements of CTE programming. State Policies Impacting CTE: 2016 Year in Review was produced by Advance CTE, formerly known as the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc), and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE). They found that funding remains the most pursued approach, with 28 states taking action to financially support CTE activities in 2016. The second most popular CTE action pursued by states is policy related to industry partnerships and work-based learning (26 states) according to the report, followed by policies related to dual and concurrent enrollment, articulation and early college (21 states) and policies supporting the attainment of industry-recognized credentials (20 states). Rounding out the top five policy paths in 2016 was an increase in policies related to data, reporting and accountability, due in part to preparations for the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the report noted. Additional policies supporting CTE and a detailed breakdown of each state’s 2016 initiatives are also included

While states implement policies to spur innovation, manufacturing and other priorities related to clean energy, there was no single source serving as a collection of all such policies across the 50 states. The recently released Clean Energy-Related Economic Development Policy across the States: Establishing a 2016 Baseline by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) aims to establish a baseline of existing policy as “a critical first step in determining the potential holistic impact of these policies on driving economic growth in a state.” It focuses on the policies most directly related to expanding new and existing manufacturing.