Compendium of Budget Information for the 2011 General Session
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| Subcommittee Table of Contents | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Function In March 2006, the Utah State Legislature created the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) economic development initiative. The Initiative has three major components: recruiting and hiring top-notch research teams, construction of research buildings at the University of Utah and Utah State University, and operation of a technology outreach program at four locations throughout Utah. The USTAR research teams are expected to bring new funding to the state through federal and commercial contracts and grants. Ultimately, USTAR should generate more technology-based start-up firms and higher-paying job opportunities in Utah through the commercialization of USTAR technologies. Statutory Authority UCA 63M-2 provides statutory authority for the USTAR Governing Authority. Chapter 2 establishes the Governing Authority and an advisory board, defines the scope of the USTAR initiative, and specifies how revenues created by USTAR teams and technologies are to be distributed. UCA 63B-15-101 and UCA 63B-19-101 authorizes the issuance and sale of general obligation bonds for the construction of the BioInnovations Research Institute at Utah State University and the James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology building at the University of Utah. Funding Detail S.B. 240 of the 2009 General Session allocated $33,000,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to the USTAR program; $5,000,000 of this funding was later used for other State funding purposes in the form of a one-time General Fund reduction. The ARRA funding source will make up most of the expenditures for FY 2010 and some of FY 2011. The $18,000,000 ARRA funding in FY 2011 is a reappropriation of (at the time) estimated funds remaining from the original $33,000,000. The other state funding source is General Fund. During the 2009 General Sesssion, the Legislature approved USTAR's request to impose fees on certain companies receiving grant writing services through the USTAR Technology Outreach program's SBIR assistance center. These fees represent the dedicated credits revenue. Appropriations have been higher than expenditures for the duration of the USTAR program due to the process of getting up and running.  The nonlapsing balance at the end of FY 2008 does not match the beginning balance for FY 2009 due to a transfer of $47,426,200 to DFCM for buildings. Expenditures are largely personnel related within the USTAR Administration and Technology Outreach and the Pass Thru to the University of Utah and Utah State University.
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