2009 Legislative Agenda

Fund the Aerospace Institute and the Center for Aerospace Supplier Quality (CASQ).
Support legislation to create incentives to attract the emerging video game creation and production industry to Oklahoma.
Support Adult Stem Cells (ASC) research and companies involved in curing disease with ASCs.
Develop incentives for pharmaceutical support organizations, such as Contract Research Organizations (CROs) and Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs)...smaller bio-pharma companies outsource everything to out-of-state CROs and CMOs.
Support a review of the way incentives for information technology (IT) companies are structured, to meet time-to-market constraints.
Support legislation that creates incentives to recruit top level scientific talent to centers of excellence in research, development and commercialization of technology.
Develop incentives for companies to utilize Oklahoma interns, because interns often become permanent employees and stay in the state.
Develop incentives, such as income tax exemptions or tuition refunds, for college graduates who go to work in Oklahoma after graduation.
Support efforts to provide reliable broadband connectivity to every area of Oklahoma.
Match or increase the $150 million 2006 state investment in funding the statewide research and development and endowment.
Support an increase of $17 million over the current funding level for the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST). The increase in funding will support expansion of existing OCAST programs including Health and Applied Research, Small Business Research Assistance, i2E (the Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center and Technology Business Finance Program), the Inventors Assistance Service, the Oklahoma Alliance for Manufacturing Excellence, Plant Science Research, the Oklahoma Nanotechnology Applications Project, the Oklahoma Nanotechnology Initiative and the Oklahoma Aerospace Institute.
Seek legislation that stimulates the growth of technology-based businesses and jobs around the state through incentives focused on applied entrepreneurship support to recognized clusters of technology businesses, centers of excellence and research.
Introduce or support legislation necessary to focus the state's resources on and promote the development of the following specific areas of technology in which Oklahoma already has clusters of excellence: (1) Aerospace/Aviation: (2) Bio-technology; (3) Energy (including alternative energy such as wind and solar); (4) Information Technology; (5) Life Sciences; (6) Nanotechnology; (7) Sensors: (8) Telecommunications; and (9) Weather Technologies
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