Purdue Statehouse Update
Purdue Statehouse Update
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A Purdue Newsletter on Legislative Issues
Session at Halfway Point As you read this, the Legislature has just passed the halfway point of the 1999 session. This issue of Statehouse Update has highlights of several legislative items of concern to Purdue University and other higher education institutions that are still alive in the law-making process.
21st Century Growth Fund Readers of this newsletter will recognize several proposals that have been submitted to the Legislature that would in one way or another benefit university research. Interest in this area has been heightened by several recently released studies that point out Indiana's deficiency in creating high-tech, high-wage jobs. Legislation has moved forward that creates a biomedical research fund and establishes governance for the fund. This legislation originally earmarked $25 million per year funding for this initiative, which would have been directed in support of biomedical research and the growth of related industries in Indiana. While the language of the original bill is still very much alive, having passed the Senate and now awaiting action in the House, the appropriations were removed. The fate of a similar $25 million annual appropriation for the 21st Century Growth Fund, though, is brighter and is in the House-approved budget. Gov. Frank O'Bannon first introduced the growth fund concept in his State of the State address. It then was embellished in language in the House-passed budget. While very similar in concept to the biomedical proposal, the 21st Century Growth Fund is broader in the proposed uses of the fund. The specific language in the House budget bill calls for support of proposals for economic development in one or more of these areas:
Since significant interest and talk have accompanied the growth fund proposal -- not to mention some amount of confusion between these proposals and several other related legislative items -- Sen. Lawrence Borst (R-Greenwood), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, called for a hearing by his committee on this topic. There was no firm resolution, but several questions were raised about the mechanics of the governance of such a fund and the ways in which it might be used as an economic-development tool.
On the Senate Side The next indication of support for this concept will be the passage of the Senate budget. If the 21st Century Growth Fund is included in the Senate budget in some form, it will be a clear indication that this is a viable concept that will likely be in place at the end of the legislative session. If the fund is not included in the Senate budget, then its future ultimately depends on the deliberations in the conference committee that will resolve differences between House and Senate versions of the budget at the end of the session. It is our view that this boost to research funding, in any of its proposed forms, would be of real assistance to Purdue and would ultimately pay large dividends to the state for its investment. We will continue to watch progress of the growth fund initiative.
Also on the Docket For those keeping score at home, here's a rundown of other higher-education bills, listed with their authors, that have survived the first half of the legislative process:
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