General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1174
January Session, 2011 LCO No. 3431
*03431_______CE_*
Referred to Committee on Commerce
Introduced by:
(CE)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 1174
January Session, 2011
LCO No. 3431
*03431_______CE_*
Referred to Committee on Commerce
Introduced by:
(CE)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CONNECTICUT INNOVATIONS FACTORY BOARD.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) There is established the Connecticut Innovations Factory Board, within the Department of Economic and Community Development. The board shall consist of thirteen members, of which ten are voting members and three are ex-officio nonvoting members.
(b) (1) The voting members of the board shall be appointed as follows: (A) Four appointed by the Governor, (i) one of whom shall be a faculty or staff member of The University of Connecticut, (ii) two of whom shall be faculty or staff members of the Connecticut State University System, and (iii) one of whom represents a business in the state that develops new technologies; (B) one appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives who shall be a member of a law faculty of an accredited law school in the state; (C) one appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate who represents a business in the state that develops new technologies; (D) one appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives who shall be a faculty or staff member of the school of business administration at The University of Connecticut; (E) one appointed by the majority leader of the Senate who represents a business in the state that develops new technologies; (F) one appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives who shall represent venture capital firms; and (G) one appointed by the minority leader of the Senate who represents a business in the state that develops new technologies.
(2) The ex-officio nonvoting members shall consist of the following members, or their designees: The Commissioners of Higher Education and Economic and Community Development and the chairperson of the board of Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated.
(3) The voting members shall serve for a term of four years. The members of the board shall serve without compensation but shall, within the limits of available funds, be reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties.
(4) The Governor shall appoint the chairperson of the board from among its voting members. The board may create other positions it deems necessary and may fill such positions from among its members. The powers of the board shall be vested in and exercised by not less than five members of the board. Five members of the board shall constitute a quorum. The board may solicit and receive funds from any public or private sources to carry out its activities.
(c) The Connecticut Innovations Factory Board shall:
(1) Develop and implement a plan to use student teams from The University of Connecticut, the Connecticut State University System and any accredited law school in the state to review technology patents held by corporations and develop new methods to commercialize such patents;
(2) Develop and implement a mentoring system for such student teams consisting of a mentor or mentors from faculty or staff members from The University of Connecticut, the Connecticut State University System and any accredited law school in the state, individuals employed by a business in the state that develops new technologies, and individuals employed by venture capital firms;
(3) Work with businesses in the state that develop new technologies to identify the highest commercial opportunities in the patents held but not commercialized by such businesses; and
(4) Work with student teams to develop new technology-based businesses in the state.
(d) The board may request other state agencies, including, but not limited to, the Departments of Higher Education, Economic and Community Development and Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated to provide information, reports and other assistance in carrying out its duties.
(e) On or before January 1, 2012, and annually thereafter, the chairperson of the board shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the Governor and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce. Such report shall indicate any progress made by the board in identifying and developing new technologies with high commercial opportunities, any progress or changes made to the mentoring system of such student teams, any progress in the development by the student teams of new technology-based businesses in the state, and recommendations for legislative action needed to assist the board in achieving its directive.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
from passage
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To establish the Connecticut Innovations Factory Board to develop and implement plans to use mentored student teams to develop and commercialize technologies patented but unused by state businesses.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]