A scientific funding proposal written by Republican members of the state Legislature is receiving bipartisan support, but has some concerned it would exclude stem cell research.
On Thursday, state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, and Rep. Dale Kooyanga, R-Brookfield, announced their plan to introduce the Next Generation Jobs bill this fall in their respective houses of the state Legislature, according to a joint statement from Wanggaard and Kooyanga.
With their planned proposal, the legislators intend to reinvest tax dollars from the biotechnology industry back into biotech companies across the state.
Biotechnology encompasses several scientific fields, including the production of medical equipment and supplies, agricultural feedstock and pharmaceuticals.
University of Wisconsin oncology professor Richard Burgess said Wisconsin’s biotechnology industry has grown dramatically in the past 20 years.
While still well behind the financial work being done in places like Boston and San Francisco, Burgess said biotech companies in Madison and across Wisconsin have made the state a leader in the biosciences.
The intended bill would place 95 percent of the growth in payroll taxes from the state’s biotech industry into a fund titled the Next Generation Jobs fund. An independent group of biotech business leaders and the state of Wisconsin Investment Board would reinvest this money back into Wisconsin biotech companies. This would be done in the form of loans, grants and direct investments. The returns on the investments will be added to the fund and then reinvested into other Wisconsin biotech companies.
In the past, Burgess said, bills intent on funding scientific research sometimes left out companies that involved themselves in stem cell research.
Though unaware of any mentioned requirements, Burgess said he hopes the Next Generation Jobs legislation would not exclude companies involved in stem cell research from funding.
“I personally believe the benefits to the state, the country and the world from some of the stem cell research being done in Wisconsin is extraordinary.” Burgess said. “It would be a shame if [stem cell research companies] were not included.”
According to the statement, biotechnology companies with 75 percent Wisconsin employment would be eligible for a grant, loan or investment from the fund.
The expansion of the state’s biotechnology industry, Burgess said, is in part because of the scientific research done at UW and other universities across the state. Over the years, he said, UW has become more open to sharing its research and collaborating with independent scientific companies.
“We have incredible scientific strength [at UW]” Burgess said. “Now that entrepreneurialism is more encouraged and acceptable, the state has done quite well in converting the resources of this university into economic development.”
UW has witnessed this growth of public investments in private sector companies with the development of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, Burgess said.
He said the institute is a prime example of the scientific innovations and financial rewards that develop when the state invests in public and private sector biotechnology.
“I don’t know how this New Generation Jobs bill would work, but anything that would generate funds that would help young companies grow, in my opinion, is a very good thing,” he said.
