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Biotech reps upset with possible Life Sciences Corridor budget cuts
Associated Press
FILE PHOTO
Biotech company reps protested in Lansing this Monday after rumors that Gov. Granholm would cut $25 million from Life Science Corridor budget.
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A possible cut in state funds for the Life Sciences Corridor drew protests Monday from a group representing biotechnology companies in Michigan.
The Life Sciences Corridor, which links research universities and facilities from Detroit to Grand Rapids to create new businesses in biotechnology and other areas, was scheduled to get $50 million from the state’s tobacco settlement this budget year.
But the state’s ongoing budget problems have played havoc with that money.
In November, $5 million was cut by Gov. John Engler and lawmakers as part of a deal to trim hundreds of millions of dollars from the budget.
Now, Gov. Jennifer Granholm apparently has proposed cutting $25 million more to deal with a $292 million shortfall in the general and school aid budgets.
The proposed cut “is the wrong prescription for what ails Michigan’s economy,” said MichBio, which promotes the growth of the life sciences industry in the state.
“This planned solution will do little to alleviate our economic issues in the short run, and it will do much to cripple the life sciences sector in the state--a sector that all agree is otherwise ideally situated to capitalize on the enormous anticipated growth of the industry around the globe.’’
Granholm spokeswoman Mary Dettloff said details of the governor’s executive order, which would contain the proposed cut, are still being worked out with legislative leaders. She declined to confirm that the governor wants to cut $25 million.
“The governor is committed to continuing the Life Sciences Corridor, but the money may need to be dropped a little over the next year or two,” Dettloff said.
Granholm said Friday after a speech in Grand Rapids that she is looking for innovative ways to pay for her Michigan Technology Tri-Corridor, which would build on the Life Sciences Corridor by adding high-tech corridors for the automotive and homeland security industries.
“There will be a cut” in the tobacco money for the Life Sciences Corridor if Granholm gets her way with the executive order, Dettloff said.
“But there also will probably be an alternative way to fund it.” MichBio said the possible cuts are the wrong message to send as biotechnology companies prepare to meet the Feb. 12 deadline for Life Sciences Corridor grant applications.
“We urge the governor to reconsider her proposal,” it said. “The small savings that might be realized will be vastly outweighed by the incapacitation of an industry that is crucial to Michigan’s long-term economic health.”
Budget director Mary Lannoye is to meet Tuesday to hammer out the final details of the executive order with Republican leaders from the House and Senate, along with the GOP heads of the two chambers’ appropriations committees.
Granholm had hoped to announce the budget cuts Tuesday, but Dettloff said it’s unclear if everything will be wrapped up by then.
The governor delivers her first annual State of the State speech Wednesday night to a joint session of the House and Senate.
Although the state is mired in budget problems, Granholm plans to focus her speech on the positive.
The title of the speech is “Michigan: Greatness through Challenge.”
It will focus on the governor’s priorities of education and early education, as well as on reducing the cost of health care and increasing job opportunities, said Granholm communications director Genna Gent.
“She wants to show we can make progress on all of these goals, despite the crushing budget situation,” Gent said.
Granholm plans during the first week of March to present her budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
That budget is expected to be up to $2 billion in the red if spending levels remain the same. The governor will take to the road late next week to hold a series of public forums to lay out the state’s budget difficulties and what must be done to solve them. An itinerary for which cities she will visit is still being drawn up.
“The governor thinks our spending is too high, and the state needs to live within its means,” Dettloff said.
"She’s going to make the case for ‘This is why I have to cut the budget.’”
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