SSTI Digest

Governors are reaching into their toolkits to build tech-based economies, utilizing Opportunity Zones, tax credits, broadband infrastructure and workforce development initiatives among other things. This week, as we continue to review their state of the state addresses for TBED news, we see some governors still trying to reshape their states’ struggling economies while others are building on past successes and proposing new initiatives.

Arkansas wants to become a technology hub and is proposing a Technology and Innovation Council to help achieve that goal. Delaware is hoping to build on its Angel Investor Tax Credit and utilize Opportunity Zones to spur development. Energy and climate change are on the agendas for many governors, and this week we see it called out by governors in Delaware, Hawaii, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York. Tools for rural development are on the radar in Georgia, while workforce development and education are just part of the plan in New Jersey and New York.

In his Jan. 15 state of the state, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson highlighted his goal of making the state a technology hub:

The ability of states to deliver the services promised to its residents relies on their fiscal soundness. With most states beginning their fiscal year in July, SSTI has reviewed the current fiscal standing for each state and here presents a snapshot of our findings.

Most states ended their fiscal year with a surplus and continue to recover from the Great Recession, with a growing economy and job gains. However, they face continuing demands on their budgets, with expanded Medicaid payments and the growing opioid crisis confronting nearly every state. Such decisions affect the state’s ability to fund innovation efforts, from the amount of support available for higher education and STEM programs, to funding for entrepreneurship, and forging public private partnerships to strengthen innovation programming that the private sector cannot fully support.

Our analysis found that some states that rely on the energy sector to fund their spending priorities continue to struggle, while others are already factoring in anticipated revenues as a result of new Supreme Court rulings involving gaming and online sales tax collections.

Alabama

State economic growth relies on the availability of a workforce capable of filling open positions. But increasingly around the country, one of the top concerns of employers is finding the right talent to fill these roles. Beyond corporate strategies in hiring, states are increasingly developing new initiatives to keep their pipeline of talent flowing. SSTI has found a variety of new initiatives being considered around the country, from foundation support for scholarships for credentials in high-demand fields in New Hampshire to pending legislation to support, with state funding, a Pathways in Technology Program (P-Tech) in California.

Alabama

Due to the effectiveness of employer-sponsored training program, U.S. states are working to build partnerships with industry partners that leverage public resources to help develop a 21st century workforce that addresses specific industry needs. Over the last month, partnerships have been announced between states and key industry leaders including AGCO, CVS, Tesla, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Some of those collaborations are detailed below.

California & North Carolina

Tesla officially announced the Tesla START program – a 12-week training program aimed at providing students with the technical skills they need to work for the electric car manufacturer. Tesla also announced exclusive partnerships with community colleges in both California and North Carolina to oversee the programs on their campuses.

SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs feature continues as governors across the country roll out their state of the state addresses. We review each speech for comments relevant to the innovation economy, and bring you their words directly from their addresses. In this fourth installment, we present excerpts from governors in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Dakota, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

This week’s review includes states like California with its goal for lower carbon output to Hawaii and Massachusetts who are looking to increase their use of renewable energy sources. Meanwhile, energy-dependent North Dakota is looking to diversify its economy and Wisconsin seeks ways to build its workforce.

California Gov. Jerry Brown, who is term limited delivered his final state of the state address.

California’s efforts to grow the role of its community colleges (CCs) was reinforced with the governor’s recent budget request to establish a fully online public community college, while a report reviewing the state’s established pilot program to offer baccalaureate degrees at some CCs presented some serious questions.

California online community college proposed

Gov. Jerry Brown included $120 million in his FY 2018-2019 budget request to establish a fully online public community college to provide sub-associate degree credentials and training across the state. Already serving approximately one fourth of all community college students across the nation through a network of 114 community colleges, the state sees an online institution as a way of reaching and educating more of the 2.5 million Californians between the ages of 25-34 who have earned only a high school diploma.

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is exploring options for its future as funding provided through its bond issue dwindles. In a meeting earlier this week, two governing board committees of the agency focused on short and long term finances including a proposal to cut clinical awards by $68 million over the next two years, an effort to raise $222 million in private funding, and the possibility of a $5 billion ballot initiative in November 2020, according to the California Stem Cell Report. The original $3 billion bond issue passed in 2004 was expected to produce research breakthroughs which have not yet resulted in widespread use. The full board is meeting Dec. 14 and may consider the proposals then.

Breaking a two-year impasse, legislators in Illinois were able to pass a state budget that reinstitutes an R&D tax credit and implements workforce development programs. In California, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (Go-Biz) will see a 28 percent increase in funding, while other innovation initiative are receiving level funding. In other states whose budgets SSTI analyzed this week for TBED-related funding, we found that Innovate Mississippi was able to maintain state funding and new funding was appropriated for workforce development at the state’s community and junior colleges; a variety of programs were cut in North Carolina; and, Ohio will not get funding for a state office focused on commercializing research across key industries that the governor had proposed. More findings from California, Illinois, Mississippi, North Carolina and Ohio are detailed below.

The nation’s largest system of higher education with over 2 million students is trying to connect community colleges to their regional economies through a three-year, $17-million-dollar investment to establish a statewide network of maker-focused colleges. The California Community College (CCC) Maker Initiative may provide a model for community colleges to infuse making, innovation, and entrepreneurship into students’ college experiences while helping them prepare for STEM/STEAM careers with the necessary skills for 21st Century jobs.

After training nearly 80 PhD scientists and engineers in the craft of policy making, the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) has awarded planning grants to nine other states to evaluate the potential to create a policy fellowship for scientists and engineers in their state capital. The new one-year grant, which is administered by CCST and funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Simons Foundation, will support teams in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Washington as they work on feasibility studies and other strategic steps toward creating science fellowships in their state policy arenas.

More than half of the country’s governors have delivered their state of the state addresses. Last week’s addresses tended to relate to the national election and the incoming administration, with some governors heralding the change and others pledging to try to reach a bipartisan understanding while standing firm on issues they believe in, like climate change in California. Although TBED issues may not have been at the forefront of the addresses, science, technology and especially innovation and higher education continue to receive attention. This week we zero in on comments delivered by governors in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana and Utah.

SSTI has reviewed another mix of state budgets as governors across the country continue to release their proposals. Some states, like California and North Dakota, are seeing cuts in the amount of money designated for TBED-related work, while others like Minnesota are in a more favorable fiscal situation and continue to fund such initiatives. Still others, like Rhode Island, are proposing new initiatives.