Bill Summary for Bill Number HB08-1001

Date: 03/18/2008

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB08-1001

SENATE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Moved to refer HB08-1001 to the Committee on Appro	PASS

02:13 PM -- House Bill 08-1001

Senator Bacon, prime sponsor, reviewed the provisions of HB08-1001 regarding the advancement of bioscience discoveries in Colorado. He highlighted the merits of the bill and urged the committee to support the legislation.

02:15 PM

The following persons testified:

02:15 PM -- David Allen, University of Colorado, testified in support of the bill. He distributed a handout (Attachment D) and explained the need for risk reduction early when a bioscience project is in the initial stages. He discussed control of intellectual property in the bioscience industry.

02:20 PM -- Doug Henston, Solix Biofuels, testified in support of the bill. He hoped to offer a private sector perspective to the witness testimony. He explained that emerging technologies require government support to minimize the early-stage risk and initial lack of capital.

02:24 PM -- Richard Duke, Colorado Biosciences Association, testified in support of the bill. He discussed that the Colorado Biosciences Association was created with the goal to create vaccines for a variety of diseases that could be made quickly available in the market. He expressed concern that capital markets are unwilling to fund projects in the early stages when the funding is most needed, making government support crucial in the early stages of a bioscience project.

02:28 PM -- Don Elliman, Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), testified in support of the bill. He stated that the legislation will provide seed money to bioscience start-up companies. Mr. Elliman closed by saying that Colorado has a number of world-class bioscience research institutions and this bill will continue to promote the industry's growth in Colorado.

02:30 PM

Senator Bacon closed with a discussion of the importance of the bioscience industry to both Colorado and the nation, and noted that HB08-1001 will help fund bioscience start-up companies by ensuring that their products reach the market.


BILL:	HB08-1001
TIME:	02:30:49 PM
MOVED:	Veiga
MOTION:	Moved to refer HB08-1001 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a 5-0-2 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy	Yes
	Harvey	Yes
	Isgar	Yes
	Kopp	Excused
	Veiga	Yes
	Romer	Excused
	Sandoval	Yes
Final YES: 5 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS