MichBio Leader Cites New Senate Biosciences Task Force and House Subcommittee as Evidence of State's Growing Awareness of Industry's Economic ...( ANN ARBOR Mich. May 7 -- Speaking to...)

ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaking to a crowd of more than 170 bioscience leaders at the MichBio Annual Meeting in Ann Arbor Wednesday night, Stephen Rapundalo, Ph.D., MichBio president and CEO, said that a growing awareness by state legislators of the industry's economic growth potential has culminated in the formation of a Task Force on Biotechnology as part of the Senate's Economic Development & Regulatory Reform Committee as well as a House Subcommittee focused on biosciences as part of the Committee on New Economy & Quality of Life.

Both the Task Force and the Subcommittee will have a common focus and are of equal legislative stature. The Task Force will be chaired by Sen. Randy Richardville (R) and the Subcommittee will be chaired by Rep. Ed Clemente.

Plans are for both bodies to hold a series of statewide hearings through the summer and early fall to gather testimony from the industry. Once collected and compiled, the information would be used to develop new policy and legislatives measures that would enable the economic promise of the bio-industry. Michigan is the fourth state in the country to constitute a standing legislative body focused on the biosciences or biotechnology. The other states include California, Minnesota and Illinois. It is the only state to have such legislative groups in both the Senate and the House.

"The Senate Task Force and House Subcommittee should bring to bear more legislative muscle that will hopefully translate into additional resources for sustaining and growing Michigan's biosciences industry," Rapundalo said. He also noted that, "In concert with the Biosciences Legislative Caucus serving as a broader interest group, Michigan now has a powerful 'one-two' punch that will greatly enhance the stature of our industry within the state's economy."

Rapundalo noted that the Biosciences Legislative Caucus is a group of
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