Committee hears bill to move bioscience grant program to Industrial Commission and create life-science council; $12 million appropriation included

Summary

Senate Bill 2328 would repeal the existing bioscience innovation grant program under Agriculture, create a Life Science Research Council under the Industrial Commission, and include a $12 million appropriation. Committee members pressed sponsors for outcomes data and reporting; no committee vote was taken.

The Appropriations - Human Resources Division opened a public hearing on Senate Bill 2328, a proposal to repeal the current bioscience innovation grant program in the Department of Agriculture, establish a Life Science Research Council under the Industrial Commission and appropriate $12 million for bioscience grants.

Senator Terry Wansick, sponsor, described the change as an administrative shift intended to broaden technical review and oversight for the state’s bioscience grants. "This will open it up where they can secure more technical advice and making determinations of which grants to support," Wansick said, adding the proposal moves administration from the agriculture commissioner to the Industrial Commission and creates a council with appointments from the governor, the attorney general and the agriculture commissioner.

Randy Schneider, president of…

Committee hears bill to move bioscience grant program to Industrial Commission and create life-science council; $12 million appropriation included

Summary

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