On Tuesday, Governor Schwarzenegger delivered an address at the annual, massive 2008 BIO International Convention.  The event is so large that it is attended by scientists and researchers from over 70 countries.  You can watch the Governor’s remarks on video, courtesy of his website, here (Warning: if you watch the video, it opens with the Governor trying to make a joke after the defeat of the Lakers in the NBA finals.  It falls so flat that it reinforces a stereotype — that scientists don’t watch or follow professional sports).

Since we are heading into the high-stakes season of state budget negotiations, it’s always interesting to listen to what the Governor says to look for his personal budget priorities.  While enduring a few (too many) mentions of "global warming blah blah" from Arnold, I watched the Governor deliver this commitment on preserving the R&D tax credit

Outstanding.  The credit should not only stay in place, but California government should be looking for more opportunities to reduce regulation and costs to business in California to encourage research and expansion.

Did you know that…

• 211,800 people were employed in the biotech industry in California in 2007.
• This is up from 3.6 percent from 204,000 in 2006.
• California leads the nation in bio medical technology revenues. 
• Nearly 3,000 California companies are engaged in bio medical technology, leading the nation with estimated annual revenues of $73 billion. 

The Governor’s reiteration of his commitment to retain the R&D tax credit is particularly important because Elizabeth Hill, California’s retiring "activist" Legislative Analyst targeted this credit for a haircut in her alternative budget proposal.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.