The Golden State Innovation Act Introduced

SACRAMENTO – The Golden State Innovation Act of 2021 (AB 593) has been introduced to fuel job growth and innovation through the restoration of the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit and Net Operating Loss (NOL) deduction for Life Sciences companies in California. AB 593 was introduced by Assemblymembers Jacqui Irwin, Cottie Petrie-Norris, Kevin Mullin, Tom Daly and is supported by a coalition of Life Science companies and patient-advocacy groups.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019-2020 budget limited the use of business incentive tax credits for research and development (R&D). In addition, it suspended the use of the net operating loss (NOL) deduction for some businesses. By reinstating the R&D Tax Credit and NOL for Life Sciences companies, AB 593 will help reach the goal of doubling the number of Life Science jobs in California and further solidify California as a leader in Life Sciences innovation. 

“California’s fiscal outlook looked grim when we were at the height of the pandemic last summer and the Legislature limited R&D tax credits and NOLs, but with a healthy economy and greater than expected revenues we must build upon our successes in critical industries,” said AB 593 Joint-Author Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks). “This is especially true for ones whose breakthroughs will carry us through this and future pandemics. The Life Sciences industry provides well-paying jobs to Californians across the state, and the research and development these restored tax credits will spur have the goal of saving and improving the lives of everyone in our state and beyond.”

“California has long been the home to biotech startups and budding innovation,” said Assemblywoman Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach). “As we look to move past this crisis and steer our economy in the right direction, we must secure our State’s role as the nation’s leader in Life Sciences and invest in a sector that holds vast opportunity for job growth and workforce development.”

“The California Life Sciences ecosystem works like a cycle - Academic research develops innovative new ways to tackle disease and other problems while producing well-trained PhDs to carry that work forward. Seeing promise in their research, venture capitalists invest in young companies, and the most successful of these companies grow to become industry leaders in their fields. In 2019, VCs alone invested $6.5 billion into California Life Sciences businesses, once again leading the nation. With these resources and the additional billions of dollars directly invested by larger companies on R&D in California, the Life Sciences continue to develop innovative ideas into products: medicines and devices to resolve unmet medical needs, as well as genomic sequencing applications and other diagnostic tests to diagnose health problems and advance personalized medicine,” said AB 593 Bill Sponsor, Mike Guerra, President and CEO, California Life Sciences Association.

“Reinstating California’s Life Sciences research and development tax credit will be a critical step in bolstering biomedical innovation throughout the state, which is known worldwide as home to the Birthplace of Biotechnology,” said AB 593 Joint-Author Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco). “Since we continue to be in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, it is imperative we do everything possible to support Life Sciences research that benefits those suffering from a variety of health conditions, including COVID-19. For these and many other reasons, I am a proud joint-author of AB 593.”

“Highly-skilled research and development teams have produced anti-COVID vaccines with remarkable speed. But this is a persistent virus. We must do all we can to support businesses – especially those located in California – that we are counting on to develop new treatments to combat this deadly virus,” said AB 593 Joint-Author Assemblymember Tom Daly (D-Anaheim). “Without continued research and development, we are only hurting California’s ability to spur new and creative innovations.”

AB 593 is principal co-authored by Senator Dr. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) and co-authored by Assemblymember Bill Dodd (D-Napa), Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley), Senator Dave Min (D-Irvine), Assemblymember Brian Maienschein (D-San Diego) and Assemblymember Marie Waldron (R-Escondido).

The coalition of supporters also includes AMGEN, Bioscience LA, Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), California Access Coalition, California Biomedical Research Association, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, California Life Sciences Association, CAL RARE, Edwards Lifesciences, Expanesthetics Inc, Masimo Corporation and Objective Capital Partners.

MEDIA ADVISORY

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

10-10:30 a.m. 

Credentialed media RSVP for Zoom link to Lizzie.Cootsona@asm.ca.gov. 

Reporters will have the opportunity to ask questions at the press conference.  

Event will be livestreamed via Facebook on Asm. Petrie-Norris’ page. 

PARTICIPANTS: 

Mike Guerra, CEO, California Life Sciences Association

Matt Horton, Director of the Center for Regional Economics and CA Center, Milken Institute 

Angela Ramires-Holmes, President and Founder, CAL RARE

Dirksen Lehman, Corporate Vice President, Public Affairs, Edwards Life Sciences

Mark Holman, Chairman, Expanesthetics

Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin represents California’s 44th Assembly District, which includes the communities of Camarillo, Moorpark, Oak Park, Oxnard, Port Hueneme,Thousand Oaks, and Westlake Village.

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