(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:

(1) The biotechnology industry in California is a rapidly growing industry that will be a critical factor in the state’s economic success in the new millennium.

(2) The California State University plays a significant role in the production and maintenance of the workforce for this rapidly growing industry.

(3) The California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology was created in 1987 to provide a coordinated and amplified development of biotechnology research and education within the California State University, to foster competitiveness in the industry on both the state and national levels, to facilitate training of a sufficient number of biotechnology technicians and scientists, to catalyze technology transfer and enhance intellectual property protection, and to facilitate the acquisition and long-term maintenance of state-of-the-art biotechnology resource facilities.

(4) The program facilitates interdisciplinary cooperative activities between the biology and chemistry departments on all California State University campuses and between faculty and a number of allied academic and research units, including bioengineering, agricultural biotechnology, environmental and natural resources, molecular ecology, and marine biotechnology.

(5) The program conducts a number of activities, including a competitive applied research and education grants program, the upgrade of biotechnology instructional and research equipment, the development of specialized training facilities, and involvement in secondary educator inservice and preservice biotechnological training.

(6) The California State University conducted a Bioscience Innovation and Training Center Feasibility Study to assess the feasibility of creating a multiuse technology innovation and training center in Pasadena that can serve as an anchor and catalyst for biotechnology enterprise growth in the Los Angeles region.

(7) The study was completed in December 2000, and concluded that there is strong demand for biotechnology workforce training, research, manufacturing, and incubation services that warrant the development of a bioscience in Pasadena. When Pasadena was evaluated against critical success factors for biotechnology community development, it scored highly on many factors, including a critical mass of cutting-edge research, accessibility to transportation, quality of life, experienced entrepreneurs, access to capital, and availability of a skilled workforce. The steering committee identified four main components for the proposed facility:

(A) Workforce training offering practical, hands-on learning experiences involving multidisciplinary, multilevel teams of researchers, technicians, production specialists, apprentices, and students.

(B) Core research laboratories and instrument beta testing coupled with process manufacturing.

(C) New business incubator space, including wet labs and shared entrepreneurial services and support.

(D) Bioinformatics (convergence of biology, mathematics, and computing) as a common theme running throughout the center.

(8) The Bioscience Innovation and Training Center Feasibility Study, conducted by the California State University, found that the development of a bioscience center in Pasadena is warranted.

(9) A successful biotechnology resource facility requires a partnership of the city, industry, and education partners, as well as public and private collaboration, in order to develop projects that leverage economic opportunities in the Los Angeles basin and support business throughout California.

(10) It is critical that, for a successful resource facility, the public and private sectors work together to achieve the following components: workforce training, research in core research laboratories, new business incubator space, and manufacturing.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to accomplish both of the following:

(1) To provide additional state funding, if state revenues allow, to the California State University to maintain the California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology at a level that will maintain and enhance its role in the preparation of the workforce in this critical industry.

(2) To provide additional state funding to the California State University for development of a bioscience center in Pasadena, subject to appropriation in the annual Budget Act, that would integrate research and innovation, applied workforce training, and incubation of new bioscience enterprise. The development of the bioscience center would include a partnership among local educational institutions, the local bioscience industry, and government. These funds shall be used for the development of a pilot bioinnovation workforce training program that bridges the gap between classroom instruction and workforce practice, using state-of-the-art instrumentation and real-world development projects, and for final site assessment to ensure due diligence prior to the selection of a final site.

(Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 225, Sec. 9. Effective August 16, 2004.)