BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SCR 161|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SCR 161
Author: De León (D), et al.
Introduced:8/2/16
Vote: 21
SUBJECT: Los Angeles Basin: bioscience hub
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This resolution promotes the Los Angeles Basin as a
bioscience hub to provide new economic opportunity for the State
of California, and declares the intent of the Legislature to
develop and encourage state and local policy proposals that
focus on the Los Angeles Basin bioscience industry.
ANALYSIS: This resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1)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.
2)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
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Page 2
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.
3)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 the Public
Policy Institute of California, 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.
4)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.
5)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
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infrastructure has already been developed.
6)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.
7)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 start-up companies and established
national and international bioscience companies.
This resolution:
1)Concurs 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.
2)Declares 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.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/12/16)
Los Angeles Unified School District
University of California
University of Southern California
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/10/16)
None received
Prepared by: Karen Chow / SFA / (916) 651-1520
8/12/16 13:43:44
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