Proposed changes to Gov. George Ryan’s $50 billion spending plan could severely undermine the state’s push to promote technology, industry leaders said Monday.
On the cutting block, according to figures released by Ryan’s office, are some $37 million in tech initiatives, mainly for large capital projects in areas such as biomedical technology and nanotechnology.
The proposed cuts are pared from $85 million in new tech initiatives proposed by Ryan for the fiscal year starting July 1. Some of the projects would be additions to the ambitious $1.9 billion, five-year tech agenda that Ryan unveiled with fanfare in January.
That program, called Illinois Venture Tech and formulated with the help of business leaders, was heralded by tech leaders as long overdue. They said Ryan’s initiative was proof that state leaders finally recognized the tech sector’s growth potential, despite the current downturn.
Among the proposed cuts are $4.5 million of $10 million earmarked for development of a $180 million biomedical research facility scheduled to break ground this summer at the University of Chicago. Argonne National Laboratory expected $2 million to help land an $800 million federal project known as a Rare Isotope Accelerator, but almost half of that would be cut.
“These institutions are the basis for new company growth, and these are key areas in which Illinois has a potential to be a leader,” said Shaye Mandle, president of the Chicago-based Illinois Coalition, a non-profit group that promotes technology initiatives.
Also on the block, according to proposed cuts that Ryan’s office released to the coalition, are $4 million to market Illinois as a tech center and $1.5 million to continue funding a network of entrepreneur resource centers.
State lawmakers, meantime, discounted Ryan’s numbers as part of the brinksmanship played during the final days of crafting a spending plan.
“It’s the budget process at work,” said a spokeswoman for Republican Senate President James “Pate” Philip of Wood Dale. “There’s a give and take.”
This year, the process is an acrimonious tug-of-war, with Ryan straining against Philip and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text).
The pair angered the governor last week by outlining parameters that must be met in any final budget agreement.
The governor’s office responded by firing off a list Friday of programs that Ryan said would have to be sacrificed, from vital health-care services and new prisons to business stimulants including incentives promised to land Boeing Co.’s headquarters.
Mandle, whose board at the coalition includes private and public officials of both parties, said his group has no interest in getting embroiled in Springfield politics.
“We just want them all to rectify this situation and come up with a budget that’s supportive of technology,” he said.
Some of the larger tech agenda items that Ryan’s office said were in jeopardy: $2.5 million for research on particle physics led by a university consortium; $1 million for Illinois Institute of Technology’s Advanced Information Processing Center; $2 million for Northwestern University’s Nanofabrication Center; $1.8 million for Argonne National Laboratory’s Nanotechnology Research Institute; and $5 million for Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center’s Biomedical Research center.
Also on the list of proposed cuts is $4 million to market Illinois as a technology center. The item is part of a five-year, $20 million initiative that was included of Ryan’s Venture Tech agenda.
The program, managed by the state Department of Commerce and Community Affairs with input from business and tech leaders, has been slow to get off the ground.
The first ads, developed by BBDO Chicago, are expected to begin running in national business magazines such as Forbes and Fortune by the end of the month.
