Patrick Reaches Out To Life Science Execs, Raps Bush Veto
State House News ServiceJune 21, 2007
CAMBRIDGE, JUNE 21, 2007…..Gov. Deval Patrick on Thursday morning called on life sciences industry executives and higher education officials to play active roles in helping his administration draft legislation that delivers on his promised $1 billion, ten-year state investment in the sector.
"It is there for you to nudge, improve and sharpen," Patrick told over 100 individuals at an invitation-only forum at the Charles Hotel.
Patrick also joined those criticizing President Bush's veto of legislation easing restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem cell research.
"And at a time when the president of the United States is, frankly, sending a rather hostile message about federal support for stem cell research, I'm glad to live in Massachusetts. Very glad to live in Massachusetts," he said to applause.
Patrick administration officials hope to deliver the omnibus legislation, which would include creating a stem cell bank at UMass Medical in Worcester, grants and an "innovation infrastructure" in every region, to the Legislature in July. The governor outlined his proposal last month during an international biotech convention in Boston.
Patrick compared the push for the legislation to the health care reform effort, which generated a sweeping law the state is now rushing to implement. "What we need from you is a continuation of that partnership," Patrick said.
The session today was the first in a series to design and build the life sciences initiative, according to Mitch Adams, executive director of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, which co-sponsored the forum with the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.
A large component of the legislation will be the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. Its executive director Aaron D'Elia, appointed in the waning days of the Romney administration, was forced out two weeks ago by Patrick administration officials looking to expand the board membership and overhaul the quasi-public agency. The center is in charge of a $10 million fund, provided by the state Legislature last year.
In a brief question and answer session, asked specifically by an audience member what the center is, O'Connell called it a "creature of the Legislature," with a broad mandate and a channel to be used by the sector for funding from the Legislature.
"The center will have a new mission, focused on medicine and science - not politics or ideology," a sheet laying out the five-point plan for the legislation said. The sheet, handed out in a folder for forum attendees, also referred to the center as the "Massachusetts Life Sciences Innovation Center."
Venture capitalist Christopher Gabrieli, a former Democratic candidate for governor, asked whether the administration was looking to other states' attempts at legislation.
O'Connell said officials had seen what happened in California - where a $3 billion life sciences initiative passed by voters got tied up in the courts for two years. "We don't want that to happen," O'Connell said.
New York and New Jersey have also made commitments to investing in the life sciences.
O'Connell added that he and Patrick were speaking with U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy on the shortage of H-1B visas as the United Kingdom, Ireland and China are developing strategies to lure away researchers and companies.
Ranch Kimball, O'Connell's predecessor under the Romney administration, hailed Patrick's initiative.
Kimball, now CEO and president of the Joslin Diabetes Center, declined to comment on the changes planned for the Life Sciences Center. "I think that's a matter of design choice," he said.
After introductions, attendees split into "breakout sessions" to tackle each of the proposed legislation's five major points, including determining the mission of the Life Sciences Center, promoting research, building the "innovation infrastructure," tax code benefits and credits and grants, and training programs and workforce initiatives.