Senate Committee Approves Endowed Research Fund Bill

The Senate Education Committee unanimously passed a bill Thursday that would create an endowment fund for Kentucky’s research consortium.

Senate Bill 1 would establish five different consortium accounts for cutting-edge research to be administered by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE).

CPE reviews research possibilities and establishes management processes. The bill’s sponsor, Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester), said the effort would be reviewed at the end of five years to ensure all indicators were met.

Stivers said his daughter is a master’s level biomedical engineer and helped sponsor the bill. He said his goal is to create something similar to the Research Triangle regional partnership that exists between Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“They created a completely different type of research culture there, they brought in so-called investigators and researchers, they brought in a lot of high-value investment. That completely changed the region,” he said.

Stivers said his daughter and others are researching whether rats with severed vertebrae can be made to walk again. This is one example of the importance of science in Kentucky.

He also cited states where science is at the forefront. He said the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is Pennsylvania’s largest employer and the nation’s second-largest recipient of National Institutes of Health research funding. That has allowed them to become an academic and intellectual incubator for research, he said.

The bill was well received in committee.

Senate Minority Committee Chairman Reginald Thomas (D-Lexington) said SB 1 is visionary and has his unconditional support.

“As a lifelong Kentuckian, my constant observation is that we often talk about being champions in the athletic realm,” he said. . What I really want Kentuckians to do is to be champions of academics, and that’s what this bill is really about. ”

Senate President Pro Tempore David P. Givens, R-Greensburg, said he is a big supporter of the possibilities the bill poses.

“A great vision. You and I have talked about this on and off over the years, and it’s a testament to your passion for you and this entire state that this came to fruition,” Stivers said. Ta.

Givens suggested that the City Council prioritize its own cooperative arrangements and consider adding language about funds being spread among different schools.

Another sponsor, Sen. Stephen Meredith (R-Leechfield), said the bill offers an “exciting concept.”

“In terms of funding flow, this certainly looks like it would lend itself to a public-private partnership,” he said.

Stivers said these investments are needed to lead Kentucky into the future in health care, economics and research. “And that will completely change the educational and economic dynamics of this state,” he said.

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Capitol Update is a nonpartisan publication of the Legislative Research Council.