Patrick Admin Supports $100 Mil Borrowing Program to Fund Research
July 6, 2011

By Matt Murphy and Kyle Cheney

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JULY 6, 2011….Leaders in scientific research and economic development joined with a top House lawmaker on Wednesday to press for the creation of a $100 million borrowing program that would use state funds to leverage federal research dollars and help Massachusetts compete with other states.

With momentum in Washington growing for deep spending cuts, Rep. Thomas Sannicandro, the co-chair of the Committee on Higher Education, and officials from the University of Massachusetts and the American Cancer Society told state lawmakers the creation of a matching grant fund in Massachusetts would allow the state compete with Texas, Ohio, Maine, Florida and West Virginia, where similar programs have already been created.

"Given the economic climate and the atmosphere in Washington to cut back on spending, we're likely going to see cuts in that funding, and scientific research is not something you can start and stop, start and stop," said Marc Hymovitz, director of government relations for the American Cancer Society.

Jeffrey Brancato, associate vice president of economic development at UMass, testified that such a fund would allow UMass to continue to expand its research efforts that totaled $541 million in expenditures last fiscal year.

"This bill would provide a critical tool that will help us sustain our growth," Brancato said.

A Patrick administration official confirmed to the News Service that the administration supports the bill.

In 2010, the National Institutes of Health awarded nearly 5,000 research grants, totaling more than $2.4 billion, to Massachusetts institutions, according to testimony at a hearing before the House Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, those funds worked to generate more than 34,000 jobs for the state economy, second only to California.

"The more we can leverage that with this bill, the better off we'll be," said Hymovitz, noting that the American Cancer Society awarded an additional 107 grants worth $45 million to Massachusetts researchers.

Arguing that it would provide a jolt to the state's university system and create jobs, the proposal's sponsor, Rep. Sannicandro (D-Ashland), said the Patrick administration is behind the effort.

According to administration officials, if approved the bond would be exercised under the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development's existing bond cap requiring no new net expenditures.

Describing the Massachusetts economy as "at a low point," Sannicandro said his proposal would "create industries" by funding cutting-edge research. The bill (H 3563) would authorize the Patrick administration to borrow up to $100 million to fund a "Scientific and Technology Research and Development Matching Grant Fund." The funds would be distributed by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's John Adams Innovation Institute.

The institute is overseen by a 23-member board that includes a slew of prominent higher education officials, current and former members of the Patrick administration and business officials.

Under the bill, every dollar awarded by the state would be required to leverage $3 in return from the federal government.

Rep. Antonio Cabral, the chairman of the bonding committee, questioned whether such a state investment would be able to influence decisions to fund research by the NIH or other federal agencies.

Brancato said the program could go a long way toward helping Bay State researchers win grants from agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy that sometimes require matching funds as part of an application.

Sannicandro said the state university system would be guaranteed at least half of the matching grants, and the remaining 50 percent of the funds could be used for private universities as well as other private for-profit and non-profit research institutions.

He argued that the proposal provides flexibility to fund research in a variety of industries, contrasting it with a life sciences initiative signed by the governor in 2008 that he noted was criticized for "picking winners and losers" within the sector.

Sannicandro said he worked with the Patrick administration to draft his bill. "This is something they're excited about," he told the committee.

Rep. James Cantwell, a member of the committee, described himself as generally supportive of the idea, but said he would like to hear from Secretary of Economic Development Greg Bialecki about whether the program would be "duplicative" of other state programs.

In a statement from Bialecki's office, spokeswoman Kimberly Haberlin said Bialecki was "supportive of this proposal," calling its "consistent with our work to create jobs in the state's innovation industries and strengthen the Commonwealth's competitive edge in the global economy."

The bill has 14 cosponsors, including five Democratic committee chairs, a member of House leadership and the Senate president pro tempore.