Officials lukewarm on state funding plan

Research facilities affiliated with the University can expect increased funding if a new plan to advance bioscience research in Pennsylvania goes into effect.

The plan, which is backed by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, would distribute $500 million to various research institutions, especially universities and hospitals.

Rendell unveiled the plan as part of the budget proposal he gave to the General Assembly last week.

However, University officials are cautious about the plan, saying it is unclear how much Penn will benefit from the redistribution of funds.

In the proposal, Rendell outlined a plan to create a board of medical professionals to decide how to distribute grants in the form of a new Jonas Salk Legacy Fund. Before now, state institutions had to apply for these funds on a case-by-case basis.

"Penn has done very well in the last few years competing for these types of funds," Vice Provost for Research Perry Molinoff said. "These funds have been enormously valuable to Penn and its research programs."

Rendell plans to obtain the $500 million proposed for new grants from the national tobacco settlement -- an annual infusion of cash that the state receives from the tobacco industry that began in 1998.

Pennsylvania is among the handful of states that distributes all of the money from the settlement to health-related programs.

Pennsylvania Sen. Robert Jubelirer (R-Blair County) noted in a press release that major research institutions have privately expressed concern that the program could disrupt annual research subsidies that are already distributed by the state.

"The money that has been used by Penn already comes from [tobacco settlement] funds," Molinoff said. "It remains to be seen how much more Penn can acquire."

Officials from major research institutions such as Penn Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh were also conspicuously absent from Rendell's introductory press conference on Feb. 1.

Representatives from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Carnegie Mellon University stood with the governor when he unveiled the initiative.

Joey McCool of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said that while she does not know much about the legislation, she was "aware that CHOP had stood by the governor on this initiative."

But Rendell spokeswoman Kate Phillips did not acknowledge that Penn and other research centers did not send representatives to the conference.

"Several major research institutions were present with the governor to show their support of the new program," Phillips said.

According to Molinoff, funds from the national tobacco settlement have been critical in the development of new facilities at Penn Medicine, such as the Abramson Cancer Center.

But since the Republican-controlled Senate still has to approve the creation of the Jonas Salk Legacy Fund, the borrowing is not expected to start immediately.

"The real issue here is legislation," Molinoff said. "It is now up to the Senate and state officials to decide how exactly the funding will proceed."

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