SSTI Digest

Over the past few months, SSTI has followed proposals issued by governors in their budget requests, State of the State Addresses, Inaugural Speeches and other events. Now that many governors have signed spending bills, the SSTI Digest will check on the status of these proposals, and examine the state of technology-based economic development funding in the states. This week, we review actions in Florida and Rhode Island.

Florida
Gov. Rick Scott signed a $78.7 billion FY16 budget (SB 2502-A) on Tuesday, vetoing $461 million in spending. The lengthy list of vetoed funding for projects includes:

During a Clean Energy Investment Summit, the White House announced a $4 billion commitment by major foundations, institutional investors, and others to fund innovative solutions to help fight climate change, including technologies with breakthrough potential to reduce carbon pollution. The commitment of $4 billion doubled the initial $2 billion goal set at the launch of the administration’s Clean Energy Investment Initiative last February.

Over the past few months, SSTI has followed proposals issued by governors in their budget requests, State of the State Addresses, Inaugural Speeches and other events. Now that many governors have signed spending bills, the SSTI Digest will check on the status of these proposals, and examine the state of technology-based economic development funding in the states. This week, we review actions in Kansas, Michigan and Minnesota.

Kansas
Gov. Sam Brownback signed House Substitute for SB 112, a $15 billion budget for fiscal year 2016.

Under the approved budget, a total of $2.7 million is appropriated for the Department of Commerce's Innovation Growth Program, and $358,568 will be available for Technology Innovation and Internship Grants. Note that SB 112 includes allocations for both fiscal years 2016 and 2017, though legislators will meet again next year to set actual FY17 levels. The figures listed above are evenly split between FY16 and FY17 to match releases from state officials.

State government tax revenues increased by 2.2 percent in FY14, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2014 Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections. The uptick marks the fourth consecutive year of modest revenue growth. Data from the National Association of State Budget Officers' (NASBO) Fiscal Survey of States: Spring 2015 corroborates this trend, indicating increases in state revenues and proposed spending. NASBO found that 42 executive state budgets proposed spending increases for FY16.

The Census Bureau found that general sales and gross receipt taxes drove most of the FY14 state revenue growth. Additional increases came from corporate income tax, severance taxes and motor fuel taxes. At the same time, revenues from amusement and alcoholic beverage licenses were down by 22.1 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively.

Academic institutions throughout the nation are committing themselves to the Maker movement, with the hopes of empowering a culture on their campus that promotes student confidence, STEM education, and hands-on creativity, according to a recent report by the MakeSchools Higher Education Alliance. Created in response to the Obama administration’s activities around Maker spaces, such as the White House Maker Faire in June 2014, the MakeSchools Higher Education Alliance is a consortium of more than 150 higher education institutions (research universities, colleges, and community colleges) committed to supporting Maker activities as an element of STEM education.

In response to an assessment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI),a federal R&D initiative focused on developing nanotechnology, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) recently released a Request for Information (RFI) that seeks suggestions for Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenges for the Next Decade.

Over the last month, several universities have announced new initiatives to support entrepreneurship among faculty, students, alumni, and the community that surrounds them. These efforts focus on providing individual and teams of entrepreneurs with access to capital, education, and other resources. In an effort to reshape their entrepreneurial ecosystem, Princeton University released a new report to guide the university’s entrepreneurial education and support efforts. 

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) alumnus James R. Swartz, a founding partner of the global venture capital firm Accel Partners, announced a $31 million donation to support the university’s entrepreneurship activities. The donation will spur the creation of the $10 million Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship to serve as a hub for university-wide entrepreneurial activities. The donation will support several activities including:

This may be one of the best environments for tech companies to receive funding since the extreme financing figures recorded during the tech boom in 2000, according to a new Small Business Administration (SBA) factsheet. In Q1 of 2015, venture capital (VC) investments totaled $13.4 billion making it the fifth straight quarter to see over $10 billion in VC investments. This trend is part of a sizeable post-recessionary rebound in VC evidencing major growth – VC investments have grown by more than 150% over the last five years. However, this increased VC activity is not benefiting many early stage startups because VCs are shifting away from funding startups as they are just developing. Most VCs are making targeted investments in more mature tech companies in order to potentially jump in before companies go public. The result of this trend of late stage investment by VCs has caused a reduction in the availability of risk capital for promising startups. Read the factsheet…

Nearly one million U.S. workers have gone to work for themselves since February 2015, according to recent survey results from the Department of Labor as reported by Bloomberg Business. In May, the number of U.S. self-employed workers surged by 370,000, the largest single-month gain since the Great Recession. The Kauffman Foundation reports that U.S. startup activity improved in 2014, reversing its post-recession downward trend, with startup activity growing in 32 states. In addition, the annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2014 Global Report suggests that most Americans believe there are good opportunities for entrepreneurship in the current economy.

Although the uncertainty associated with business churn may cause concern for some, regions with more job turnover also exhibit signs of higher life-satisfaction, according to a recent study. In Creative Destruction and Subjective Wellbeing, researchers from Harvard University, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania use cross-sectional MSA level data to analyze the relationship between turnover-driven growth and subjective well-being. Ultimately, the authors find life satisfaction is significantly higher in regions with high job turnover rates. 

On Monday, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed a $7.1 billion fiscal year 2016 budget (HB 2242) that includes a 3.5 percent reduction in base higher education funding. A portion of this reduction was offset by an agreement to pick up the cost of higher education bond debt service, which brings the net percentage reduction closer to 2.44 percent, according to the The Oklahoman. K-12 education funding will remain at current levels.

The budget includes $16 million in appropriated funds for the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology OCAST). Another $4.8 million in dedicated and other funds will be provided through the state's Research Support Revolving Fund to finance OCAST duties.

Hawai’i Gov. David Ige signed into law a bill (HB 623) that would increases the state’s renewable portfolio standards to 30 percent by the end of 2020; 70 percent by the end of 2040; and, 100 percent by the end of 2045. With the passage of the new renewable energy mandate, the state became the first in the country to have a statewide renewable goal of 100 percent. This marks a drastic shift from the state’s current distinction as the country’s most oil-dependent state. The state spends nearly $5 billion a year on foreign oil, according to a release from the governor’s office. Luis Salaveria, director of the Hawai’i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, hopes that the new mandate will drive investment and make the state a more attractive destination for entrepreneurs and businesses from around the world, looking to develop, test, and prove emerging renewable technologies and strategies.