SSTI Weekly Digest for May 21, 2020

SSTI poll shows overwhelming support for innovation platform

Advances in science and technology have lifted the United States out of past economic downturns, and Americans are eager for a new commitment to research and innovation to be made now. Even at the outset of unprecedented economic conditions, more than 90 percent of the electorate supported expanded efforts to strengthen the key elements of a knowledge-driven economy. These are among the findings of a recent poll conducted by GQR and TargetPoint Consulting for SSTI. Read more |

Useful Stats

Post-recession GDP recovery by state, 2000-2019

As the world begins to emerge from the “Great Lockdown” and governments increasingly turn their efforts towards reopening economies, many will look to past recessions for lessons on recovery. This edition of Useful Stats examines the rate of real GDP recovery by state following the recessions of 2001 and 2008. Read more

SSTI launches new initiative to advance innovation policy

SSTI is launching a new initiative to improve innovation policy across the country with support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. To achieve the goal of improving innovation policy, SSTI will be working with its members and other entrepreneurial support organizations to cultivate new policy champions from the ground up.

Over the next 18 months, SSTI will be working with 35 or more organizations to encourage and facilitate meetings around the country where state and/or federal lawmakers meet with the organizations that support tech- and innovation-driven entrepreneurship. These meetings will help drive home the importance of science, tech, innovation and entrepreneurship to their regional economies, and this understanding will lead to an interest in supportive policies. Read more

Innovation index reveals record high startup creation

SSTI Note: Benchmarking innovation-driven entrepreneurship and the impacts of other science, technology and venture development activity in your state or region is more important than ever in the post-pandemic economy. Understanding the gains made prior to the onset of the coronavirus – and the inevitable setbacks resulting from its economic shocks – will be important for helping to build support and momentum for your initiatives going forward. The Illinois Innovation Index provides one useful model to approaching university entrepreneurship activity across institutions and geography.

For more than a decade, the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition has published the annual Illinois Innovation Index, tracking entrepreneurship and commercialization flowing from ten of the state’s public and private universities. This latest Index, released May 18, reported the largest volume yet of startup creation – 1,064 from 2014-2019, creating approximately 3,300 jobs. This marked the first time a five-year period has surpassed 1,000 startups for the Index. Read more

Pew: How states pay for natural disasters in an era of rising costs

A new Pew study sheds light on how states utilize budgeting tools in response to natural disasters. The study identifies five key tools used by states — statewide disaster accounts, rainy day funds, supplemental appropriations, transfer authority, and state agency budgets — and discusses eligibility and restrictions around each. Not all states have access to each tool, and their availability is displayed in the graphic, below. While Pew’s research does not specifically address COVID-19, states are already beginning to use some of these budgeting measures to address their emerging shortfalls. Read more

State News

Facing a revenue shortfall of more than $3 billion in the upcoming fiscal year, dozens of advocacy groups in Colorado are urging state lawmakers to adopt a temporary (June-November) emergency income tax increase on the state’s high-earner households to help offset the losses. Proponents of the plan estimate that the increase would raise between $700 and $750 million.

A 19-group coalition in New Jersey is also calling on state lawmakers to narrow Jersey’s expected $10 billion revenue shortfall through tax increases, arguing that austerity will not work, and that New Jersey ended up with the slowest recovery in the U.S. following the Great Recession because lawmakers would not consider tax increases.

Delaware’s property tax system has been deemed unconstitutional in a recent court ruling. The presiding judge noted that the process of calculating property tax bills in Delaware’s three counties is so outdated it leads to inequities, which violates the state constitutional requirement that property owners be taxed equally. The ruling is expected to spark debate on how to overhaul the system to ensure fairness, while possibly triggering significant changes in annual tax bills for the first time in decades.

Join SSTI as a member

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This week's Staff Picks:

The Washington Post: Some small businesses and households are running out of money
A recently released report from the Federal Reserve revealed that nearly half of laid-off Americans are barely “getting by,” this being just one of many other concerning economic statistics. Read more ($)

MIT Technology Review: “The first day was really hard”: Life as a contact tracer
With reopening the economy largely underway across the U.S., contact tracing will be even more critical. See this first-hand look at what it’s like to work as a contact tracer right now. Read more

CBO: Interim Economic Projections for 2020 and 2021
A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office updates its projections for the economy through the end of 2021 in response to the pandemic. Read more

Inside Higher Ed: Four-year colleges intend to reopen, community colleges likely to stay virtual
One likely reason four-year colleges and universities are announcing intentions to reopen in the fall while many two-year community colleges plan to stick with virtual instruction may be loss of revenue. Read more