Assuming, of course, that you have any spare money.
The Utah House has before it a bill, SB75, that gives both structure and cash to the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative, or USTAR to its friends. And USTAR has many friends, including Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., a Who's Who of chambers of commerce and, as of last week, the unanimous Utah Senate.
It is just about as good an idea as its supporters say it is. But it should be considered in the context of all the other things the state and its people need, from education to transportation to services for the poor and handicapped.
The good idea is that Utah ought not just watch the best minds of our generation lured away to other creative-class cities, taking their federal grants, brilliant grad students and lucrative patents with them. USTAR would take state money, leverage it with private capital and build world-class research facilities at, to begin with, the University of Utah and Utah State University.
SB75 would add $65 million to the $7.5 million allocated last year, plus let the universities float $110 million in state-backed bonds. It would all be managed by an appointed USTAR governing board that would not only spark inventions that could be spun-off into private firms but also realize revenue from them.
That money would be plowed back into USTAR, presumably generating more profitable enterprises, attracting more scientists and inventors and enlarging the economic pie in a way that benefits everyone.
Is that a good idea? Yes.
Is it a better idea than $7 million to increase all-day kindergarten options, $9 million to provide services to all the handicapped people on the state's waiting list or $2.7 million to provide the state's dentists a decent rate for treating Medicaid patients? No.
In today's flush economy, there's every reason to believe we can do both. But, while USTAR will almost certainly provide economic benefits down the road, it should not slide through at the expense of the other programs mentioned, and others, which would make major differences in the lives of people who really need it right now.
