The importance of leveraging laboratory innovation for economic revitalization has been a bipartisan talking point for several years. Now, New Mexico Senator Tom Udall is planning several legislative proposals designed to streamline the technology transfer process researchers encounter on the front lines.

When the federal assembly reconvenes next month, Udall's first order of business will be the introduction of a bill centered on boosting high-tech job prospects in his home district.

"Our goal is to reduce bureaucracy so we can get cutting-edge research and technology from the workbench to the marketplace, leading to a 21st century boost for entrepreneurship and job-creation across the state," Udall told The Hill.

More specifically, the bill is expected to contain requests for approximately $50 million in federal seed funding which will later be combined with private investments. While New Mexico's Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory may be the earliest beneficiaries of such legislation, according to The Albuquerque Journal, Udall's plans also call for a standardization of technology transfer policies and programs which would affect all U.S. Department of Energy research facilities.

New Mexico legislator Ben Lujan has been floating similar ideas in the House of Representatives. According to the news source, his vision includes $20 million in annual federal funding for five years to help promising private companies overcome initial capital restrictions.