H.B. 373 Higher Education Innovation: transcript

Thank you, chair. You ready for me?

I'm gonna be speaking to the first substitute today, which has been online, so hopefully that's when you're able to read. Um, so I just wanna start off by talking about how often when we think about higher ed, we focus on how our universities teach students. We focus on what programs they offer, but I have thought a lot this last year about how we don't talk enough about the research that's happening at our institutions and how it is not just changing Utah, but it is changing the world because of the research that we're accomplishing. So here's a couple of things that have come outta Utah universities. Um, the first artificial heart transplant was performed here. Um, we've got neural technology now that can be implanted into a person with paralysis, um, so they can have a prosthetic that they can move with their brain. It's incredible. I just saw the other day, the, um, 3D graphics, um, have led to advances like Pixar and Adobe. Um, the BRCA gene, which is, uh, near and dear to my heart, having had breast cancer, um, was identified, uh, at our universities. Um, we are doing research, gene research that's won the Nobel Peace Prize has happened here. Geothermal energy research. Um, the small satellite, uh, research that we're doing up at Utah State, incredible. Um, I could go on and on. There's so many things happening at our universities, and all of this doesn't happen by accident. It happens because we make intentional efforts to really focus, um, on investments into research. But the landscape for research funding is changing in our nation and the way the federal government is thinking about how they're going to do research grants. And so, um, that's kind of where this Bill Genesis came from, starting to think about how do we continue to support this incredible research happening in our institutions, um, in a way that they could maybe leverage some state funds to get matching grants and to be able to, um, maximize the investment of the state in a number of areas. So this bill creates, um, a program. It's a pilot program. We're gonna see if this works. Um, and it would be available to our eight universities to apply for competitive grants. We are funding this bill through, we have, um, some performance funding money that was, uh, sent to our sent set aside for our universities, but they didn't earn it. So the idea is that we'll take this money one time to fund this program, so we don't need to find new dollars to fund this program. Um, and then, um, we'll work with Yushi to come up with a topic, uh, research topics. And those will be, uh, approved actually by this committee. Um, so they'll come to this committee, we'll talk about the research topics. Those could be things like critical minerals, aerospace and defense water conservation, AI energy, nuclear, geothermal, life sciences, health. And, um, once those research topics are approved, then the universities will prioritize their own grant applications and then send them through a competitive process to compete with the other schools. You'll see in the bill of rubric that will be created around impact the connection to Utah industry's relevance to state economic development, um, potentials for commercialization, um, the available proportion of matching funds, what is the best match we can get for state dollars and the opportunities for our students to participate. So, um, that is the bulk of the bill. The bill does a little bit of cleanup also on the Nucleus Institute, which we established last year in code, and also cleans up a few administrative functions for the board of higher ed at their request. So that's the bill. I'm open to any questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm just wondering, I realize Snow College isn't a research institution, but would they qualify to be able to participate?

Yes. So the idea is that any, especially our regional type universities, if they're doing applied research, they can apply. Perfect.

Thank you. And I have one question. If, if you could remind us where the performance, uh, funding restricted account, where, where did that money come from?

Yes. So, um, two, two ways. Um, we have an ongoing appropriation that goes into our performance funding account, and then we also have a little earmark that comes out in the base budget that goes to performance funding. So that account has been there. Um, and then there's a number of metrics that the universities have to earn, um, performance funding on. And this is the access metric. They didn't meet the access metric, um, last year. And so this is the money that was left over that our universities did not earn. It's about $17 million.

Thank you. Uh, Jeff Moss, I'm in a kind of a dual capacity here, uh, as the Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity, uh, and also Nucleus Institute, which is working directly with our higher education institutions to help commercialize research, to help drive research. Um, I just wanna make a, a, a kind of a, a strong emphasis on what Representative Peterson just said. Our our institutions of higher education are becoming a major economic development engine for the state. I think that always has been, they've done amazing things, but as we're looking into the new era of aerospace and defense, as we're looking at energy, all of these things that we're doing right now, um, there is a need to have that deep research component to it. So I just wanna, uh, give a strong, uh, request and support of this bill. So thank you.

Thank you. Hi, I'm Kelvin Cullimore. I'm the CEO of Bio Utah, the Trade Association for Life Sciences companies in the state. As we all know, r and d is really the fuel that drives innovation, and innovation is what attracts capital and builds companies and provides jobs. So r and d is fundamental to driving most industries, especially the life sciences industries. And Utah is one of the leaders in the country, in the life sciences industry. We are one of the fastest growing and have been for a long time. We have, um, over 180,000 employees in, in our industry. And so it's very important to us to see this kind of r and d supported. Another example of that, RD came outta the University of Utah this last year with Dr. West Sundquist, who was recognized by the Time Magazine of one of the 100 most important people in the country because of his discovery of a vaccine for HIV actually curing it. So that came right out of Utah. That's the kind of r and d that's taking place here, and that we're supporting. And with the federal, um, landscape getting more difficult, anything we can do to make our grants more competitive by providing matching funds will make it so that we attract even more capital for r and d. So we strongly support this bill and would love to see this go through and further support r and d, which is really the foundation of what we do in this state. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Jeff LaMer, commissioner of Higher Education, and here to speak, uh, about this bill. Uh, About 20 years ago, the legislature created a program called the Engineering Initiative, which has been expanded to computer science as well. And, uh, it's interesting when you look at the, the economic development and growth at the state of Utah, there is an inflection point, and it was right about the time when the legislature decided to make this investment. It was a risk. And, uh, now it turns out that we have developed a kind of workforce that allows Utah to have one of the best economies in the nation. It's that kind of forethought, uh, that we want to celebrate and encourage. And so, investments like this, I think 20 years from now, we'll look at this, uh, type of program and this kind of investment into research and recognize that it had a profound impact on the futures of the state. And so we're grateful for the legislature continuing to look for ways to invest in higher education and, and are, are glad that this is focused on the needs of the state and the needs of our economy and the workforce. And so we thank the, uh, the legislature and the sponsor for pursuing this.

I would like to make a motion that we forward adopt the sub, adopt the sub. Oh, wait, no, we got this up. Oh, I have an amendment. Actually, if you'd adopt an amendment, I Would like to make a motion to adopt the amendment. I think that, and I, I haven't spoken to the amendment yet, so if you'd like me to speak to that before you make your motion, I'm good with that Too. Withdrawn.

Let's, let's go to the, oh, I Would like the sponsor to go ahead and speak to it.

So, um, what the amendment does is if we use this account, rather than having them ask for an additional appropriation to administer the program, they would, it would just allow them to use a portion of the money We're gonna move over for administration. So we don't need to find additional money for administration of the program. That's all the amendment does. Doesn't change the amount. In fact, it lowers the amount because now we don't have to come up with money for grand administration. So that's what the amendment does.

Yes. I would like to make a motion that we favorably recommend it to move to the full body of the house, HB 3 73 as amended.

Appreciate the motion. Thank you To the motion maker.

It's higher Education Innovation Innovation Day, right? That's right. That's right. I know. Hopefully you all saw the, all the students research today. That was fantastic, wasn't It? Yes. Yes. Every time they come, I think, what did I do in college? Like, I, I did not solve all the problems. All these kids are fantastic. Um, Kate, if you're ready for me, we're ready. Um, so when we talk a lot about our universities and colleges, often we really focus on, um, the students that they teach, um, the programs that they have. And one of the things I don't think we talk nearly enough about is the research that is happening at our institutions and how, um, the work that they are doing is changing Utah. It's changing the world, and it's also helping our local industries be more successful. So, um, all of the, um, research that happens at our universities doesn't happen by accident. It happens because we are intentional and we make deliberate choices to invest in research and to make sure our students have these opportunities. So that's what, uh, precipitated this bill, um, a conversation about how can we better support research in our state, especially as kind of the federal landscape around research is changing, um, but also opportunities that we might have with, um, with Foundation Dollars and other, other, um, resources with our state. So what the build does is it sets up a new grant program, um, and it's a pilot, so we'll see how it goes. Um, and it provides, um, some matching or seed funding to our eight universities. Um, the funding is coming from, uh, a performance funding account. Um, we had some money in a performance funding account. You're all on HCA, so you're familiar with this, um, that we're repurposing for this. Um, at one time, expenditures is how the bill is drafted. Um, and then, um, the legislature will determine, um, we'll be able to approve the research topic. So we'll go through a process, um, with our, uh, talent Rid Utah folks and others Nucleus Institute that can help us understand where areas, um, might make sense to do research projects. Um, so these could include things like critical minerals, aerospace and defense, water conservation, ai, um, energy life sciences, um, health. Um, we'll see what they kind of come up with, but they will come to our committee for approval so that, um, people can look at them and say, yes, this feels like the right areas. And then once we have those areas determined, then our universities will come up with their grant applications. Our presidents will prioritize those applications, and then those will be sent in, in the bill. You see, uh, it's a competitive grant process, and there will be, there's kind of a rubric in code that they'll set up around impact connection to Utah industry's relevance to state economic development and public policy potentials for commercialization, uh, availability or proportion of matching funds that these funds are able to, uh, help us qualify for and opportunities for our students to participate. So that is the bulk of the bill. There's a few other small things in here to clean up. The Nucleus Institute that we passed last year, just now that they're up and running, they had a few cleanups and a few cleanup functions, administrative functions that the Board of Higher Education requested. So, um, that's the bill. I'm open for any questions.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am wondering, uh, if, um, first of all, I'm wondering when, uh, the committee was referenced when, uh, you know, after the issues and the research areas that are going to be determined, um, the sponsor said that committee, and I was just wondering, do you mean this committee? Do you mean a GA Good question. It is the, um, yes, it, well, it's your interim committee. It's the Economic Development and Workforce Interim Committee is the committee that it'll come back to. Okay, great. Mm-hmm. And then one other question about, um, the, uh, funding or the RFA, uh, for research mm-hmm. How will it, um, coordinate with that? Yes. So we're kind of in this space where, um, all of the requests go in, including bills like this, and then they determine what amounts are going to come out. Right. So, um, so as the bills currently drafted, it moves that 17 million after our EAC does their work. If we need to make an amendment to the bill on how the funding is flowing through it, then we'll take care of that once EAC does their work, and that's approved. Okay. I'm on board. Okay. More the merrier. Mm-hmm. But I asked EAC and they asked me to leave it for now with this mechanism before I came to committee today, so Thank you. Mm-hmm.

I move that we favorably recommend, uh, HB 3 73 s one to the full body of the Senate. Okay.

I, I just say appreciate the motion. I I think that our higher education institutions have just incredible opportunity to drive economic development in our state, um, to help our industries and to keep our country and our state ahead of China.

consideration matter. Meeting clerk, Our substitute house bill 3 73 higher education innovation by representative Corinne Peterson. This bill was heard in Economic Development and Workforce Services with the vote of 5 1 4.

Um, so often when we talk about our universities and our colleges, we talk a lot about the programs that they have and, um, the teachers and the educators that are in those programs. But we don't talk enough, I think about the research that is happening at both our two R one institutions, but also all of our regional universities. So this bill really focuses on how our colleges and universities are literally changing the world and helping Utah through their research. So I don't know if you know that the, in Utah, the first artificial transplant was performed at one of our universities. Um, the 3D graphic advances that led to companies like Pixar happened at our schools. The BRCA gene was identified. Um, and I could go on and on about all the things that are happening right now with water, with agriculture, with forestry, so much, um, happening at our universities. And all of this research didn't happen by accident. It happened because we were intentional in, um, focusing on research, focusing on how, um, we can solve problems. And we also can bring students and industries together to solve problems. So what this build does is right now there is a, a account called the performance funding account. And universities have to, um, meet certain metrics to receive the funding from that account. Um, we have a couple of universities that did not meet the access metric. And so we have money that's in the performance funding account that is available one time as we were talking about this funding. Um, and are talking about the need to support research in our state because the, the landscape around research, especially with our federal partners, has changed. And so if we can provide some stability and some seed money and some matching funds, uh, for our universities to continue the research, uh, good research work they're doing that this felt like a good use of money already kind of allocated to higher education. So it sets up, um, we take that money one time with this spell. It's, um, and it sets up this grant program. All of our eight colleges and universities would be available to apply for the funding. Um, and the research topics would be, uh, determined and then brought before the, um, economic development and workforce interim committee to be approved to ensure that there are things that we're interested in our, um, universities looking into these. Could think be things like critical minerals, aerospace and defense, water conservation, ai, um, energy, nuclear, geothermal, life sciences, all of those kinds of things. The universities well, um, gather from their institution, their grant proposals and policies. They'll be prioritized by each institution. Um, and then, then they will compete. There'll be a competitive process. There's a little bit about that rubric in the code about thinking about things like impact, how it connects to Utah industries, um, potentials for commercialization, how much matching funds that these state dollars can leverage to get. Um, and um, that's the bill. So it would, um, go into effect with this, um, funding if, if it's funded. And then, um, there's also a couple provisions in here, um, that you, she request that you just clean up the Nucleus Institute, which we created last year in code, now that they've had it for a year. And a few administrative function cleanup also in the bill from Yohi. So with that, I'm open to any questions.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. Pro Tem. I just wanna rise in enthusiastic support for this legislation. I have been saying for years that Utah does research better than just about anybody in the country, maybe even better than anybody in the world. And this, um, nod of recognition for that expertise and that innovative spirit, uh, is, I, I just, I think that the sponsor is spot on and wanna celebrate her recognition and hard work of that and, um, would, uh, encourage the body to support this incredible opportunity for our state and all the amazing things that will come out of this project.

Thank you Mr. Speaker ProAm with the sponsor yield Two question.

Yeah, thanks. I was just trying to understand the fiscal note. So this is it, it's a fund that's already set up within the, um, income tax fund. Where is that from the, um, let me ask you these questions and see if you can help me understand. So the fund, it looks like it's, uh, an education research fund that's comes out of the board of education like 17 million. But I was just wondering, can you explain what that is and if the university, if you talk to them, they're okay with it? And what is not funded? Because, because of this funding.

Excellent, excellent question. So, um, we have money that's already allocated and appropriated to the performance funding account. So that account has existed for many years. There's funding in there, but that funding, the universities have to meet certain metrics to qualify for it. It's a fund that if the universities don't meet the metrics, they don't get the money. 'cause it's about based on their performance. So last year, about two years ago, actually, the system did not meet its access metric. So because they didn't qualify for that funding, we've had $17 million sitting in the performance funding account. So nothing is not getting funded because this money, um, was there, it, it's was just literally money that wasn't earned. It's, it's like, um, like a, a almost a balance. So, so when we talked about, okay, we have 17 million sitting that we can only use one time because hopefully they earn it again in the future, um, but they can never go back and earn it because they missed it. What would be a good use of this 17 million? So yes, we've met with the presidents, we've met with Yui, they're all supportive of this use for that money that was kind of allocated to higher education but wasn't earned. And so we talked about using it for this specific purpose.

Thank you for that explanation. Appreciate it.

Thank, thank you Mr. Peter. I just, I just wanted to quickly rise in support of this if, if this gets funded the $17 million I I, I so appreciate that, that the good, uh, chair of our higher ed appropriations committee is, is, is bringing forth this legislation because if it gets funded for $17 million, this will ensure that, that we as a legislature have guardrails over this and can ensure that that, uh, the money spent the way we intended it to be spent. So again, I rise in support and thank the, uh, thank the good chairwoman

Thank you. I I would end with this. The research that we're doing in our state is so critical and so important not just for our industry and for what we're doing, but really like, if we want to beat China, we've gotta invest in research. We've got to, uh, make an intentional effort to, uh, make sure that we're advancing in all of these ways. Um, in medical, in aerospace, in defense, in so many ways that we just need to stay ahead and our universities are poised to help us. Um, this is a small way we can provide some matching funds for them to leverage these dollars. The, the director of the SDL, the Science Dynamics lab in, um, in Logan at in Utah state told me he can turn one or $2 million of state funding into hundreds of millions of dollars if, if he can, um, get that, um, seed money from us to make that happen. So I, I would ask for your support and thank you so much.

Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro Tam, uh, two motions. First motion is, uh, I would like to lift House Bill 2 83 raw milk amendments from the Health and Human Services, uh, standing committee to the Natural Resources and Environment standing committee.

Yes. Uh, this is a bill that, uh, would be better served in the Natural Resources Committee. Both chairs are comfortable with that. And, and we're making the motion

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I move that the following bill be lifted from rules and placed at the bottom of the Senate. Third reading calendar, Senate bill 81, dyslexia testing amendments

I would. This is a bill that was sent back to rules for fiscal impact because there was a substitute that was adopted in the committee. The substitute now is public. It has a $0 fiscal note, and so we can consider it on the third Senate. Third reading calendar.

Uh, this creates a new grant program, uh, for matching or seed money for our universities for using for research only. Um, it's repurposed from our unearned performance funding and some other one-time funding. It's a pilot project. Um, but we are only going to use these research dollars for areas that are on a list of approved research topics that align with, um, what we're trying to do economic and with respect to economic development state, they would have to be approved by the Economic Development Workforce Services interim committee. Right now we're considering things like critical minerals, aerospace and defense, uh, water, uh, ai, um, energy critical minerals, um, life sciences, health. So those are the kinds of areas. So there areas that are important for our state in terms of economic growth and development, um, that we wanna be able to use applied research for be a competitive process that would be run by our by Yushi. Um, and we'd pick only the best proposals and they would have to have matching funds. So it's got to be, these are just really for matching and for seed grants. Um, with that I'm open to questions. Um, just one more statement I wanna make. We are the third lowest state in the nation for contribution state contribution to research funds at our universities. Um, what we've done has been amazing. Uh, with very little contribution. I think it's time for us to step up a state, particularly in this fairly unknown environment, to make sure we're making an investment and research and innovation which not only makes a difference for our economy, but makes a difference in people's lives. With that, I'm open to questions.

Yeah. Motion encircle HB five 20. We Have a motion to encircle house Bill five 20 higher education student housing study.

The only changes they made, the appropriation align with the budget.

Yes. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, would the sponsor yield the question?

Representative, will you yield? Yes, I will. Yes. Representative.

Would you tell us again what the, I, I I'm sorry Mr. Speaker, but I don't understand what the, what the difference was.

Yes. So, um, when we passed the bill out of here, we took $17 million from the performance funding account, um, to fund this grant program. Um, when it went through all of our EAC processes, um, they instead just appropriated 50 million to the program.

May I ask another, a follow up Question? Representative, will you yield to a follow up question?

I will, yes. Representative Peterson, well

If I understand correctly, we went from 17 million from performance. Now we're now it's instead of 17, it's 50 million. Is that correct?

Yes. They're still going to sweep the 17 million, um, from performance funding to cover the, I think that portion of it, but I don't think they needed that in the bill to accomplish. Um, but yes, that's what happens.

Alright, thank you.

Thank you. Um, I, I think those of us on higher education appropriation saw how this wrangling went. The Senate started at a hundred million. We came down, we went back up. Um, this is where we landed. I would ask for your support on the legislation. It's a one time pilot. Uh, and I'd appreciate your support. Thank you.