Lawmakers approve money for biohealth tech hub, communities affected by UW shutdowns

Forward Biolabs in Madison, a nonprofit that helps launch startup biotech companies companies, is a member of the the state consortium of biohealth companies that is part of Wisconsin's new biohealth tech hub. The Wisconsin tech hub has been awarded $49 million in federal support, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Tuesday. (Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. photo)

The state budget committee on Tuesday approved the release of $27 million for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to cover grants aimed at creating a regional tech hub and to help communities affected by UW shutdowns. The committee also approved money for the Department of Corrections to cover the costs of youth who are serving adult sentences.

One of the requests approved Tuesday by the committee was for a $7.5 million grant for a Wisconsin biohealth nonprofit organization — taking the next step in establishing a regional tech hub in the state.

Wisconsin was designated a regional tech hub by the U.S. Commerce Department in October 2023 after a consortium of public agencies, private companies and nonprofit organizations applied for a federal grant. The state will receive $49 million in federal funds to advance technology to improve disease diagnosis and treatment and for centers on personalized health care — an approach that tailors tests, treatments and therapies to a patient’s unique genetic code, medical record and environment.

The members of the consortium include WEDC, the University of Wisconsin System Administration, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, GE HealthCare, Rockwell Automation, Exact Sciences Corporation, Employ Milwaukee, Accuray, Plexus, WRTP Big Step, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Madison Area Technical College, the Madison Regional Economic Partnership, Milwaukee 7 and BioForward.

In addition to the federal funds, state funds approved by lawmakers on Tuesday will go to BioForward, the trade association for Wisconsin biohealth companies that is serving as the lead consortium member. The state was required to match the federal grant in order to be designated a regional technology and innovation hub.

Under Act 96, the money can be used to establish a work flow and supply chain support center for image-guided therapies and theranostics, construction of expanded shared labs and lab-related programming and development of a program to provide support for manufacturing and supply chain companies to develop apprenticeship programs and incentives for employers to engage apprentices.

The money was allocated by the Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers under Wisconsin Act 96, which was signed into law in February. The funds could only be released after the state was awarded federal funding to develop a tech hub for biohealth, which was announced last week .

“The state’s designation as a Tech Hub is an exciting and pivotal moment for our state, putting our state center stage as we work to build an economy and workforce in Wisconsin that are ready to meet the demands of the 21st century,” Evers said in a statement ahead of the JFC meeting. “I look forward to these funds being released by JFC without delay so we can get this work underway expeditiously to grow our workforce and economy and put Wisconsin at the forefront in the nation’s personalized medicine and bio health technology sector.”

Lawmakers on the committee celebrated the approval of the funding.

“I just wanted to take a moment here to express my gratitude to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for continuing to make these critical investments in Wisconsin,” Rep. Tip McGuire said. The federal grant program that Wisconsin is participating in was established under the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act.

State Rep. Shannon Zimmerman (R-River Falls) called the tech hub a “good opportunity.”

“I’m really glad for all those who supported it and those who brought this forward. We can debate whether the federal government has any money as we approach $35 trillion in national debt, but that’s a separate topic,” Zimmerman said, taking a jab at the Biden administration (the federal debt expanded during the administrations of both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden). “During the budget process, we heard a lot about the changing identity of the state of Wisconsin… This is an example where we can now… enhance an emerging identity in the area of bio health.”

The committee also approved the release of $20 million for WEDC that will go towards grants for communities affected by the closures of University of Wisconsin branch campuses.

The recent closures of UW branch campuses, including UW-Platteville’s Richland campus, UW-Milwaukee’s Washington County campus and UW-Oshkosh’s Fond du Lac campus, have left local communities facing potential economic crises. Under a law signed by Evers in March, communities will be eligible for a $2 million grant through a program that will be established by the WEDC that is meant to help blunt some of the impact.

The committee also approved a request from the Department of Corrections to transfer $2.5 million to help cover the cost of youth serving adult sentences at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake.

According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the department was facing an anticipated budgetary shortfall due to a higher than predicted population of youth with adult sentences. In the state budget, about $18.3 million was included to cover contract costs of housing inmates, including $4.5 million for youth with adult sentences at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake. However, that was based on an average daily population of 10 youth with adult sentences at Lincoln Hills. Since that estimate, the population has doubled and has remained elevated, leading to the department estimating in March that it will incur costs of over $20 million.

The money, which is meant to cover the shortfall, will be transferred from the DOC’s appropriation for reimbursing counties for probation, extended supervision and parole holds as well as its appropriation for services for drunken driving offenders.

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