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All Aboard The R&D Bandwagon
by Chloe AlbanesiusAn increase in research and development is high on the agenda for the nation's governors, as more of them gave their State of the State addresses this week.
Washington Gov. Gary Locke on Tuesday pushed for R&D investments through targeted tax incentives. "We must play to our strengths ... with initiatives like Bio 21 ... a public-private non-profit partnership that will further fund our state's outstanding research capacity in biotechnology and information technology," the Democratic governor said.
He also pushed for increased focus on education. "If our state can't provide the necessary training and education opportunities for [high-tech] jobs, businesses will hire people from outside our state," Locke said.
Arizona also made a push for increased research. "Together we authorized [public universities] to construct more than $400 million in new research facilities that will serve as incubators of innovation creating the new knowledge that will drive the high-tech economy of the new Arizona," Gov. Janet Napolitano said on Monday. "The governor's council on innovation and technology recently released a blueprint for developing Arizona's tech industries so that we can become pace setters in an increasingly competitive arena."
Napolitano, a Democrat, also touted the state's work with Mexico on the Nogales CyberPort Project at one busy U.S.-Mexico border entry. The project relies on technology "to expedite the transport of goods to and from Arizona" while also improving homeland security. The state was one of the first to develop a comprehensive security plan, one that it tested in November with a border-security exercise, Napolitano said.
Iowa's economy was bolstered in 2003 by the increased use of high-speed Internet services, Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack said on Tuesday. The state's Grow Iowa Values Fund also stabilized "manufacturing jobs threatened by overseas competition," he said.
Idaho's broadband tax credit "is a conduit allowing prosperity to flow to rural Idaho and Idaho products to the world," Gov. Dirk Kempthorne said on Monday. "More than half the state has high-speed connections, but the job's not finished and that tax credit is set to expire."
The state's R&D tax credit also is set to expire, so Kempthorne, a Republican, requested that legislators make the credit permanent. "[Those] tax credits and incentives represent an investment of more than $2.5 million," he said. "The world of telecommunications is rapidly changing, and it's time for our state law to align itself with the realities of the current market."
Kempthorne also announced the creation of an Office of Science and Technology. "Using existing technology and a new investment of $100,000, we will begin pushing an aggressive agenda to expand science and technology throughout the state," he said.
Republican Colorado Gov. Bill Owens used his speech last Thursday to seek business for his state. Owens and the mayor of Denver last year "led a joint economic development trip to California's Silicon Valley," Owens said.
"We pitched venture-capital firms on what a great place Colorado is in which to do business, [and] we learned this week that a Colorado high-tech company will more than double its workforce investment this year after receiving nearly $10 million in venture capital."
North Dakota also is looking to attract emerging technologies, with Republican Gov. John Hoeven saying on Wednesday that officials "must also make our state a haven for high-tech companies. My goal is to create the very best business climate for technology firms so that we can develop and attract to North Dakota the good-paying jobs they provide."
Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who took office just more than a month ago, speculated on Tuesday that technology "is where the next generation of jobs lie. That's why I've embraced the forward-looking work of the Office of the New Economy and connectkentucky to expand Internet access -- because if we want to compete in the new economy, we have to be a wired state."
"We have nowhere to go but up because Kentucky is 29th in high-tech employment, 42nd in the average high-tech wage, 43rd in R&D and 46th in venture-capitalist investments," the Republican governor said.
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner on Wednesday pushed his plan for tax overhaul. "Some will say, 'We can grow our way out of this problem.' ... But it would take revenue growth rivaling that of the technology and dot-com boom to make that happen," the Democrat said.
Ohio Establishes 'Do Not Call' List
Ohio Gov. Bob Taft on Tuesday signed into law a ban on unsolicited telemarketing calls. The state's "do not call" list enhances the federal act and allows Ohio's attorney general to sue violators in state court. The measure also creates a fund in the state treasury for pooling civil penalties from do-not-call cases to cover the cost of future investigations.
Meanwhile, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer on Monday filed a complaint against L.M.A. Marketing for violations of that state's do-not-call law. The company allegedly placed automated calls to California residents under the guise of conducting a survey. Consumers were prompted to press numbers to respond to the survey, but certain numbers prompted company representatives to call back later and pitch a particular product.
"This lawsuit should serve as a warning to telemarketers who think they can evade this important consumer protection law," Lockyer said.
Officials Tout Programs On Children Safety
Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire this month will travel to three middle schools in the state in order to promote Internet safety.
She will visit Maywood and Einstein middle schools on Jan. 16 and Cascade Middle School on Jan. 30 as part of her 21-stop "Safety Net" tour, which seeks to educate students on how they can protect themselves from online sexual predators and con artists.
In Illinois, Gov. Rod Blagojevich last week released figures that showed improvements to the state's AMBER Alert system in 2003 helped the state notify law enforcement about missing children and locate them. Before 2003, Illinois officials notified media outlets of missing children via bulk faxes, but upgrades to the system allowed officials to use the National Weather Service's emergency alert system. The state found six missing children via AMBER Alerts in 2003.
N.J. Governor Signs Tech-Related Measures
New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey last week signed into law several tech-related measures. One measure, S. 2023, allows use of the state's electronic death-registration system, while another bill, S. 2481, allows for a coordinating council to help ensure that public-safety communications systems can work across jurisdictions. A third piece of legislation, S. 2366, makes it a crime to videotape someone else without their consent.
In other news, New Hampshire entrepreneurs and business owners now can register online for the state's Start Up New Hampshire business-plan competition. Interested parties can upload their plans for the chance to win cash prizes totaling $250,000. The initiative is the brainchild of Gov. Craig Benson and will be funded by Public Service of New Hampshire. The deadline for submissions is March 31.
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