Senator Terry Gerratana (D-New Britain) today led the unanimous, bipartisan Senate passage of legislation that will improve Connecticut’s ability to make targeted investments aimed at encouraging growth and job creation in bioscience and precision medicine. Senate Bill 962 calls for metrics to be developed by a private vendor that will help the state measure the impact of its investments. These metrics will be used by Connecticut Innovations to make smarter, more effective investing decisions.
“Connecticut is poised to become a national leader in the fields of bioscience and personalized medicine,” said Senator Gerratana, Co-Chair of the Public Health Committee. “Legislators, educators, scientists and private business people are collaborating on making our state a bioscience hub. This legislation is a critical to encouraging growth in this sector and helping the scientific breakthroughs made in our world-class research universities be brought to market through successful businesses.”
Senate Bill 962 will establish clear metrics to measure the effectiveness of state dollars being used to support the bioscience and precision medicine sector. These metrics will detail the economic outcomes of state investments, including job creation and multiplier effects.
A 2015 economic competitiveness diagnostic of Connecticut found that the state has great assets and economic drivers in research and development, bioscience and health data. In response to those findings, Senator Gerratana and her colleagues in the General Assembly have worked with stakeholders to develop and pass legislation encouraging further development in these areas. As this industry grows, it is critical that the state know how to best target its financial support in order to ensure maximum job growth and economic impact. Once implemented, Senate Bill 962 will give the state a more accurate picture of industry trends, allowing the Department of Economic and Community Development and its other partners to better target state resources.
Now that Senate Bill 962 has passed the Senate, it moves to the House of Representatives for further consideration.