Maryland’s governor bolstered his state’s position among those vying to attract the bioscience industry today with a proposal to commit $1.1-billion over the next decade to biotechnology research, including stem-cell studies, The Sun reported.

Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, unveiled his proposal at the Johns Hopkins University and toured its Institute for Cell Engineering, where scientists are working with stem cells. Under the plan, the state would build business incubators that help small technology companies bring their ideas to market, expand a University of Maryland law-school program to work with entrepreneurs to protect intellectual property, and direct at least $20-million annually to stem-cell research.

Maryland is among several states, including California, Massachusetts, and New York, that are seeking to attract the growing biotech industry. Massachusetts’ governor, Deval L. Patrick, signed legislation today to enact a plan he advanced a year ago to pump $1-billion into his state’s life-sciences industry over the next decade. —Charles Huckabee