Sen. Scott Brown sure is telegenic, but a question vital to the future of Bay State’s battered economy now looms in the aftermath of his historic win.
Can our neophyte senator bring home the bacon for a state whose booming life science and health care sectors depend on billions of dollars in research funding from Washington?
Brown has impossibly big shoes to fill here. The late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy helped transform the National Institutes of Health into a powerhouse, one that has helped fuel the rise of Greater Boston’s booming research and life science sectors.
But some leading life science industry boosters, such as University of Massachusetts President Jack Wilson, now fear NIH funding may be poised to drop off dramatically. And that would have disastrous implications, not just for the Bay State’s life sciences sector, but for our struggling construction and development industries as well.
At a time when plans for new office and residential towers have been shelved, new projects by major research institutions and life science companies are the only game in town.
Looking At A Cliff
Maybe our new senator is just the dynamo we need right now to keep that federal funding rolling in. But here’s the crux of the problem: Brown is a talented political bomb-thrower, when a Kennedy-style bureaucratic brawler is needed to keep those federal research dollars flowing.
“We are looking at a cliff head of us,” Wilson recently told local life science executives gathered in downtown Boston, of what he believes could be a steep drop-off in NIH research money. “That would be very adverse.”
Kennedy certainly had the vision thing down. But he also knew how to work the levers of power in Washington to bring home all those federal dollars. Rising through the ranks in the hierarchical Senate, Kennedy was at the top of the pyramid when he died, chairman of the powerful Senate health committee.
And Kennedy used his growing power over the years to dramatically boost federal NIH funding, with Greater Boston hospitals and research institutions grabbing a disproportionate share.
In his last year, Kennedy teamed up with local life science industry leaders to lobby successfully for a dramatic 26 percent increase in NIH funding to researchers across the country.
Our high-powered array of research institutions hit the jackpot, boosting their haul by more than half a billion to nearly $3 billion in 2009.
But after this huge windfall, life science industry backers knowledgeable in the ways of Washington fear a pullback in research funding may follow.
All eyes are now on Brown, with top executives from the Massachusetts Biotech Council set to meet with him next week. You can be sure NIH funding will be at the top of the agenda.
“The more NIH funding, the more that these brilliant ideas turn into businesses and the businesses then create jobs and construction jobs due to expansion,” said Robert Coughlin, chief executive of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.
High Stakes
Even under the best of circumstances, Brown enters the game at a big disadvantage, a rookie with a state legislative background roaming the halls of an institution where longevity, tradition and seniority are prized.
But politicians, like people in other fields, have their strengths and weaknesses.
Brown has long been skilled at getting attention with remarks that sometimes verge on the outrageous, but also hit a chord with fed up voters.
Tapping into suburban anger over Chapter 40B affordable housing laws, he once pushed legislation that would let towns and cities meet affordable housing quotas by counting prison cells.
Rabble rousing is all nice and fine. But that’s a far cry from the kind of dull and unheralded work needed to push bills through the legislative meat grinder.
It’s not fun, but as Kennedy discovered, it’s also what allows you to bring home the bacon.
Needless to say, the stakes are huge for the state’s economy and for our reeling construction companies and development firms.
The only new buildings around town that stand a chance of going forward right now are connected with Greater Boston’s sprawling research sector. For example, Children’s Hospital, a top NIH recipient, is gearing up for a major expansion.
Our local construction companies and developers know this – they are all following the money.
Just take local construction powerhouse Suffolk Construction, which recently bought William A. Berry, a firm with a solid base of business in the bustling Longwood Medical Area.
Combined, the two companies now do half a billion dollars worth of business each year in the health care/research sector.
A Deep Bench
Maybe Brown will surprise us all, and turn into a bureaucratic trench warrior overnight.
But if he doesn’t, we can take some comfort from a deep bench of political talent upon which to draw.
The state’s Congressional delegation remains one of the nation’s most powerful. Gov. Deval Patrick, for his part, has a strong friendship with the president, one that comes with swift access to key decision makers in the White House.
At a recent talk to local life science executives, the governor noted how he got President Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on the phone to urge a different course on a major piece of biotech legislation.
Best of all, our local hospitals and research institutions have a compelling case to make.
It’s that core strength that has John Fish, Suffolk’s chief executive, convinced Brown will do just fine.
“It’s like putting five Larry Birds on the court,” Fish said. “You have five great players who all want to pass the ball.”
