BILL NUMBER: SCR 161	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  185
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 9, 2016
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  AUGUST 16, 2016
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 31, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Senator De León
   (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Gomez and Santiago)
   (Coauthor: Senator Lara)

                        AUGUST 2, 2016

   Relative to bioscience.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 161, De León. Los Angeles Basin: bioscience hub.
   This measure would promote the Los Angeles Basin as a bioscience
hub to provide new economic opportunity for the State of California,
and would declare the intent of the Legislature to develop and
encourage state and local policy proposals that focus on the Los
Angeles Basin bioscience industry.



   WHEREAS, The 21st Century is often referred to as the "Bio Century"
because biosciences are at the forefront of both creativity and
innovation, representing a convergence point for engineering,
information technology, nanosciences, communication, and media; and
   WHEREAS, In 2012, President Barack Obama released the National
Bioeconomy Blueprint, noting that the biological sciences, the
"bioeconomy," is "a large and rapidly growing segment of the world
economy that provides substantial public benefit"; and
   WHEREAS, California has been and will continue to be at the
forefront of developing an innovative economy. First, Silicon Valley
ushered in the computer age. Now, the Los Angeles Basin is poised to
become the epicenter of biotechnology with its academic institutions,
training centers, companies, and communities. The Los Angeles
bioscience industry has been a consistent growth industry even during
the recession and recovery years. In bioscience industries,
employment in Los Angeles County rose from 37,759 jobs in 2001 to
42,211 in 2010, an 11.8 percent increase; and
   WHEREAS, The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the
second largest school district in the nation with over 1,100 schools
and an enrollment of over 415,000 low-income students, offers 81
science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs to its
elementary, middle, and high school students. The number of
kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, students in LAUSD and
other school districts in the Los Angeles Basin who have access to
STEM programs must be expanded as these students are California's
future workforce; and
   WHEREAS, Students who attend schools in Los Angeles's lowest
socioeconomic neighborhoods are being overlooked for their potential
to enter and succeed in highly technical fields, including
bioscience. California's kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive,
public school system and the state's public and private universities
must collaborate to establish a pipeline that provides concrete
opportunities for low-income, underrepresented students to pursue
higher education in scientific fields of study; and
   WHEREAS, The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) reveals
the state will be 1.1 million bachelor degrees short by 2030.
Furthermore, PPIC states California's best approach to closing its
skills gap will be to improve the educational attainment of its
residents. Currently, California ranks near the bottom of all states,
47th, in the share of recent high school graduates who enroll in
four-year colleges or universities; and
   WHEREAS, For the majority of low-income, underrepresented
students, their access to a higher education remains their passport
to economic security. If these students earn a STEM degree and are
able to work in the bioscience industry, they can break the cycle of
income inequality. According to PPIC, workers with engineering
degrees earn a median annual wage of $96,000, which is almost three
times more than an individual who earns only a high school diploma;
and
   WHEREAS, In partnership with the leading higher education
institutions in the area, state and local governments need to promote
and develop a competitive bioscience industry in Los Angeles. First,
the Los Angeles Basin is home to several leading academic medical
centers that attract nearly $1 billion in National Institutes of
Health funding. Second, in 2010, the Los Angeles biotech workforce
was comprised of 42,000 employees with average wages of $72,052.
Third, the area's major research universities, such as the University
of California at Los Angeles, the University of Southern California,
and the California Institute of Technology, created 1,118 invention
disclosures and 43 startups in 2010; and
   WHEREAS, Local governments must work in partnership to promote and
develop the Los Angeles Basin to address the fact that college
graduates are leaving this area to pursue biotechnology job
opportunities elsewhere. Annually, universities in the Los Angeles
Basin produce over 5,000 college graduates in science, technology,
and engineering. Yet, the Los Angeles Basin ranks 14th nationwide in
biotech investment because many of these graduates leave to pursue
jobs in other cities, such as San Francisco and San Diego, and in
other states where biotech infrastructure has already been developed;
and
   WHEREAS, Within the Los Angeles Basin, the University of Southern
California and local governments are working to establish a new
biotech park that will create up to 3,000 new construction jobs and
nearly 4,000 permanent jobs that will be accessible to local
communities. This, and other potential plans at Harbor-UCLA Medical
Center, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, and Rancho Los Amigos
National Rehabilitation Center, will create new potential economic,
educational, and training opportunities; and
   WHEREAS, Local governments are also in the initial stages of
developing plans to address the creation and expansion of the biotech
industry. In March 2015, the City of Los Angeles introduced a motion
to analyze the estimated fiscal and economic impact of local biotech
tax credits to encourage growth and development. In 2012, the Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors commissioned a feasibility study
for advancing the bioscience industry in the region that focused on
commercializing new technologies, keeping and attracting new
bioscience talent, collaborating with university technology transfer
offices, and marketing the region to new startup companies and
established national and international bioscience companies; and
   WHEREAS, In order for the Los Angeles Basin to emerge as a
bioscience hub, state and local governments must move beyond the
planning stages. It is critical they take concrete action to promote
and invest in this industry to improve the economic opportunity for
the Los Angeles Basin residents and businesses; now, therefore, be it

   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That promoting the Los Angeles Basin as a
bioscience hub will provide a new economic engine for the State of
California, in particular for underserved areas; and be it further
   Resolved, It is the intent of the Legislature to develop and
encourage, through the enactment of legislation, state and local
public policy proposals that focus on this large, fast-growing, and
diverse industry to establish manufacturing and research activities
for the purpose of providing high-quality jobs while advancing public
health; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.