I’m Only a Bill: That Is HB08-1001

With an invitation from the Colorado Bioscience Association I packed my things and headed over to the State Capital to listen in on the Colorado House Finance Committee deliberate over House Bill 08-1001. It is an incredible journey a that bill must follow in order to become law; happily HB1001 shall continue on its voyage, pulling in next at the Committee on Appropriations, since the motion passed on a 7-4 vote today. Follow the progress of the Colorado General Assembly (here).

HB1001 is architected to provide $3.5M in each of the next five years to programs that have proven to help grow the bioscience industry in Colorado. These programs include “proof of concept” grants to Colorado research institutions to accelerate commercialization of bioscience technologies and matching grants to early stage Colorado-based bioscience companies. In addition, the bill adds funding for partnership efforts between the bioscience industry and Colorado research institutions to build infrastructure that supports commercialization of technologies. These funds will be disbursed by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade through their Bioscience Discovery Evaluation Grant Program.

It was an absolutely fascinating afternoon. In an effort to get my head fully wrapped around the legislative process ironically I dug deep back into my childhood. I am fully dating myself here but thanks to the highly influential School House Rock perhaps all of the Saturday morning cartoon time may not have been a complete waste…I’m just a bill, yes I’m only a bill…



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