Date: 01/31/2012

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB12-1044

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Moved amendment L.001 (Attachment G). The motion p
Moved to refer House Bill 12-1044, as amended, to 		Pass Without Objection
PASS



02:15 PM -- House Bill 12-1044

Representative Ferrandino and Young, co-prime sponsors, presented House Bill 12-1044. The bill creates the Start-up Colorado Technology Transfer Grant Program in the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). No later than September 1, 2012, the director of OEDIT must establish policies for the new grant program.

The grant program will provide up to $750,000 per grant to offices of technology transfer at institutions of higher education. When awarding grants, the OEDIT must give priority to projects that create jobs in Colorado and projects that have available federal or private matching funds. The bill creates the Start-up Colorado Technology Transfer Cash Fund and subjects any money in the fund to annual appropriations by the General Assembly. The OEDIT may use up to five percent of moneys transferred to the fund for annual administration costs.

No later than April 15, 2015, the director must submit a report to the Finance Committees of the General Assembly detailing the recipients, grant amounts, and the number of Colorado jobs created as a result of the grant program. The grant program is repealed, effective July 1, 2015.

02:26 PM

Representative Swerdfeger asked the sponsors to explain how the disbursement of funds would work under the bill. The sponsors continued to respond to questions from the committee about how the bill will be funded. Representative Ferrandino asked that the bill make it to Appropriations where the discussion of how the bill will be funded would be had.

02:51 PM -- Steve Foster, representing the Colorado Technology Association, testified in favor of the bill and the importance of investing in technology. He talked about building in a mechanism to send funds back to the university and the state. Mr. Foster responded to questions about the current venture capital that is being generated in the state.

03:08 PM -- Will Vaughan, representing the Colorado School of Mines, testified in support of the bill.

03:12 PM -- Todd Headley, representing Colorado State University Ventures, testified in support of the bill.

03:26 PM -- David Allen, representing the University of Colorado, testified in support of the bill and distributed a copy of the 2010/11 Tech Transfer Annual Report that can be found at: https://www.cu.edu/techtransfer/downloads/TTOAnnualReport-10-11.pdf He discussed the report and addressed earlier concerns of the committee. Representative Liston asked Mr. Allen to explain the Major Financing Events for CU Licensees section of the annual report.

BILL:HB12-1044
TIME: 03:42:06 PM
MOVED:Swerdfeger
MOTION:Moved amendment L.001 (Attachment G). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Williams A.
VOTE
Balmer
Holbert
Miklosi
Priola
Singer
Soper
Swerdfeger
Szabo
Tyler
Williams A.
Wilson
Swalm
Liston
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

120131AttachG.pdf

03:45 PM

Representative Young gave closing remarks on the bill.

BILL:HB12-1044
TIME: 03:47:25 PM
MOVED:Tyler
MOTION:Moved to refer House Bill 12-1044, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 7-5 with one member excused.
SECONDED:Singer
VOTE
Balmer
Excused
Holbert
No
Miklosi
Yes
Priola
No
Singer
Yes
Soper
Yes
Swerdfeger
Yes
Szabo
No
Tyler
Yes
Williams A.
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Swalm
No
Liston
No
YES: 7 NO: 5 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS




03:48 PM

The committee adjourned.