Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Lawmakers approve funding for Jackson Laboratory

  • by Keith M. Phaneuf
  • October 26, 2011
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

State government will spend $291 million over the next decade to entice an internationally renowned genetic research institute to move to Farmington after the General Assembly approved Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s initiative in two predominantly partisan votes during Wednesday’s special session.

The House of Representatives voted 101-41 to approve the funding for Maine-based Jackson Laboratory shortly before 10:35 p.m. following a three-hour debate. The Senate endorsed the measure 21-15 earlier Wednesday evening.

Lombardo Lebeau Ojakian

UConn Health’s Joann Lombardo, Sen. Gary LeBeau, Deputy OPM Secretary Mark Ojakian

The funding includes $192 million to construct a 173,000-square-foot research center on the University of Connecticut Health Center campus, and another $99 million to subsidize Jackson Laboratory’s research operating costs for the first decade. In return, the administration estimates, the project will create more than 7,400 jobs over the next two decades.

Connecticut’s contributions to the project will be financed over 20 years, costing the state an additional $153 million in interest, according to the legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis.

“By investing in Bioscience Connecticut, we sent a strong message to the industry that the state is ready, willing and able to be a player,” Malloy wrote in a statement issued immediately after the House vote. “Just five months later, the state is already reaping its rewards, and tonight we took the next step toward reinventing Connecticut as a leader in the industry by officially welcoming JAX to the state.”

Malloy, who first made expanding Connecticut’s bioscience base a priority during last fall’s gubernatorial campaign, added that Wednesday’s legislation was about more than jobs.

“It’s about making Connecticut a leader in a growth industry. When was the last time we could say anything like that?” he said, thanking lawmakers from both parties who supported the measure. “Supporting a smart, strategic investment like this shouldn’t be a partisan issue.  We have the infrastructure, the talent and the drive to make Connecticut a leader in this emerging science, and I’m pleased to welcome Jackson Laboratory to our state.”

The company is expected to spend between $280 million and $290 million on operations over the first decade and $809 million in total over the first 20 years.

Malloy’s fellow Democrats, who hold 22 out of 36 seats in the Senate but had one member absent, unanimously backed the governor. All 14 Republicans opposed the investment.

A similar split occurred in the House, where 93 Democrats teamed with eight Republicans to approve the bill, while 40 GOP members and one Democrat, Rep. Emil “Buddy” Altobello of Meriden cast opposing votes,  arguing it was excessive or that too many questions about the project remain unanswered.

“We’re talking about that ability that they (Jackson Laboratory) have, that singular ability that they have, to bring that science to Connecticut,” said Sen. Gary D. LeBeau, D-East Hartford and co-chairman of the Commerce Committee. His argument that Jackson’s potential to grow jobs in a cutting-edge field transcends the state’s investment was echoed by many of his colleages during the 3-hour and 15-minute debate.

As the Baby Boomer generation become seniors, there is now an unprecedented need for “personalized medicine” or treatments aimed at the specialized maladies that particularly plague the elderly, LeBeau added. “This is a tremendous investment opportunity.”

Advocates of the deal also noted that Connecticut has pursued other high-profile investments without huge results, such as former Gov. John G. Rowland’s bid in late 1998 and early 1999 to lure the New England Patriots to Hartford with the pledge of a publicly financed stadium.

“We’re been burnt before,” House Majority Leader J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, said, adding he believes Malloy wants to avoid the mistakes of the past, and will negotiate a final agreement with Jackson Laboratory that protects Connecticut’s interests. “Can he guarantee that that deal is going to be the ultimate deal? No. We have to take a leap of faith.”

“With this legislation, Connecticut is leading and thinking big again,” added Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn.

The not-for-profit research institute is required to have 300 direct jobs at the center by the 10th year, and is expected to create over 660 direct positions within 20 years.

Democrats pointed to administration estimates that more than 4,000 bioscience jobs would be generated largely through spin-off companies, and another 2,000 would be added to local service and retail operations from increased economic activity over the next two decades. Lastly, the project would create more than 840 temporary construction jobs in the next few years.

Catherine Smith, the governor’s commissioner or economic and community development, said that was based on a 2009 analysis of the bioscience industry by PricewaterhouseCoopers, a global accounting and professional services firm that is projecting 11 percent annual growth for the foreseeable future. But the administration, in preparing job estimates, pulled back dramatically in the second decade, assuming a modest 4.3 percent annual jump.

But Sen. Leonard Suzio, R-Meriden, charged that the administration estimate was flawed. Specifically, it calculated those 4,000 spin-off jobs by applying the growth percentages to Connecticut’s entire bioscience workforce cited in the last U.S. Census. That means, he added, those 4,000 jobs should represent growth produced not only by Jackson Laboratory, but by the UConn Health Center, Yale University, and other bioscience research centers here.

“They’re giving Jackson Laboratory the credit for creating all of those jobs,” he said, calling it “a totally incredible assumption. It undermines the credibility of everything DECD has been presenting to us.”

“Don’t rush to judgement,” he added. “Don’t let your euphoria, your enthusiasm, your emotions, rule over your brain You have a responsibility to the taxpayers ladies and gentlemen. … It’s a reckless use of taxpayer money the way its structured right now.”

Republicans also  complained that the tentative deal with Jackson Laboratory guarantees only 300 direct jobs will exist at the new center after 10 years.

“Hope is not a strategy,” said Rep. Arthur O’Neill, R-Southbury, adding that  there is no guarantee that Jackson Laboratory will create attract thousands of spin-off jobs with dramatic new discoveries. “Are they going to be a successful (research center,) or are they going to be the one that just didn’t make it.”

“We have to be very, very careful here. This is no ordinary economic development bill,” said Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-Greenwich, noting that the tentative deal with Jackson Laboratory doesn’t guarantee Connecticut a share of any new medical technology patents produced with its considerable investment. “There is no provision for Connecticut to share in the fruits of their labor.”

Frantz and many Republicans urged the Senate to delay action to allow the deal to be renegotiated — something Malloy has insisted he will not do.

Sen. Robert Duff, D-Norwalk, told his colleagues that they and their predecessors have complained about Connecticut’s meager job growth too often over the past two decades.

“We can’t continue to take baby steps,” he said. “We’ve got to think big and we’ve got to take big steps. Some of this is a risk, but we have to take risks if we’re going to change this.”

Duff and others noted that Connecticut already has a strong bioscience base with academic and research programs at the UConn Health Center and Yale. “This is Connecticut and this (field) is our sweet spot,” Duff said.

The governor’s office released several statements sent by email Wednesday from existing bioscience firms and research groups hoping to seek Jackson Laboratory located here.

“It will be an important complement to the existing cluster, adding all important critical mass,” wrote Paul Pescatello, president of the New Haven-based CURE, or Connecticut United for Research Excellence. “It will bring UConn to a another (and higher) level of academic achievement, be a critical resource to our biopharma companies and help knit Storrs, Farmington and Yale/New Haven-our nascent research triangle -together.”

“The Jackson initiative will help ensure such technology will be available at the scale needed to build a portfolio of successful business initiatives in Connecticut,” added Susan Froshauer, founder and former CEO of Rib-X Pharmaceuticals in New Haven.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Keith M. Phaneuf

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Man jailed on $155k bond dies of COVID-19
by Kelan Lyons

This is the sixth incarcerated person to die from the virus this month.

Senate leader pitches new state property tax on high-value homes
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state Senate’s highest-ranking Democrat proposed new taxes on high-value homes and the capital gains of Connecticut's highest earners.

It’s time to standardize arts grants in Connecticut
by Mandi Jackson and Daniel Fitzmaurice

What all arts organizations need most right now is multi-year, unrestricted general operating support with simplified, fair processes for accountability. This would allow the arts community to better respond to the needs of Connecticut residents instead of the political process, lobbyists, or wealthy donors.

Accessory dwelling units are a good thing
by Toni Gold

Connecticut’s large, old houses are a resource that any town should treasure — not just for their charm and historical value, but because of their potential for adaptation. One tool that can help ensure the viability of these structures is zoning, and particularly zoning for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). There’s a movement to  legalize ADUs statewide. It’s a good idea whose time has come.

New Haven and Yale: Giamatti and DiLieto:  A historic moment? Or a model? 
by Neil Thomas Proto

The City of New Haven’s effort today to seek an increase in financial contribution from Yale is more historically justified than is often recognized.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion It’s time to standardize arts grants in Connecticut
by Mandi Jackson and Daniel Fitzmaurice

What all arts organizations need most right now is multi-year, unrestricted general operating support with simplified, fair processes for accountability. This would allow the arts community to better respond to the needs of Connecticut residents instead of the political process, lobbyists, or wealthy donors.

Opinion Accessory dwelling units are a good thing
by Toni Gold

Connecticut’s large, old houses are a resource that any town should treasure — not just for their charm and historical value, but because of their potential for adaptation. One tool that can help ensure the viability of these structures is zoning, and particularly zoning for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). There’s a movement to  legalize ADUs statewide. It’s a good idea whose time has come.

Opinion New Haven and Yale: Giamatti and DiLieto:  A historic moment? Or a model? 
by Neil Thomas Proto

The City of New Haven’s effort today to seek an increase in financial contribution from Yale is more historically justified than is often recognized.

Opinion A call to save arms: is vaccination really the solution?
by Genevieve Diamant

Economic modelling done by professional statisticians is often used to claim that the ounce of prevention provided by a vaccine is much better than the pound of cure that well-funded hospitals, fully staffed with professional nurses and doctors, using effective pharmaceutical remedies, can provide. But is this actually true?

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO