BILL NUMBER: AB 1420INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member V. Manuel Perez FEBRUARY 27, 2009 An act to add Section 8321 to the Government Code, relating to state government. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1420, as introduced, V. Manuel Perez. State government: research. Existing law establishes various tasks by the California Council on Science and technology. This bill would request the California Council on Science and Technology to undertake an assessment of the state's innovation infrastructure and seek the cooperation of public colleges and universities and other private entities to perform this task. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 8321 is added to the Government Code, to read: 8321. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that California's public colleges and universities, which are recognized as being among the world's finest, require assistance to remain globally competitive. To this end, the Legislature finds that it is in the public interest to facilitate the development and expansion of the state's public and private innovation infrastructure. (b) The California Council on Science and Technology is hereby requested to undertake an assessment of the state's innovation infrastructure, including university research facilities, private research parks, laboratories, and incubators. (c) The California Council on Science and Technology may seek the cooperation of the University of California, the California State University, the California Maritime Academy, independent colleges and universities within the state, corporations with research and development capacity, and the California community college districts to perform the assessment. (d) The assessment may include, but not be limited to, a directory of public and private innovation facilities and infrastructure in the state, a list of national and global alliances that contribute to the state's ability to be a innovation leader, a comparison of the state's current resources to those that would be necessary to remain globally competitive in the near and mid-term, and a list of recommendations on how to access public and private resources to meet the state's innovation facility needs. (e) The assessment may be presented in a format that facilitates its use by potential applicants for green and other innovation-based federal economic stimulus funding. (f) The assessment may be completed within 120 days of being awarded.