In 1947, an infusion of cash for medical programs enabled the University of Pittsburgh to attract a 33-year-old doctor named Jonas Salk. By 1955, the scientific discoveries his team made in Pitt labs marked the beginning of the end for polio.

"If we build it, they will come" was the thinking long before the words became a popular slogan. That's the idea behind Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal for a fund in Salk's name that would invest $500 million in new laboratories and equipment. The goal is to build on Pennsylvania's success in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical research in order to keep state universities and hospitals competitive.

The Rendell administration projects the investment will pay for construction or renovation of 2.2 million square feet of lab space and provide 12,000 research jobs. In turn, having the facilities and the scientists in place will attract more federal dollars for use in the search for cures for cancer and other diseases.

The state House already has passed the Jonas Salk Legacy Fund, but the measure faces a tough fight from Republicans in the Senate.

Under the governor's plan, $500 million worth of bonds would be floated and the funds allocated over a two-year period to the state's research facilities. The money would have to be used for labs and equipment, not salaries or other expenses. The institutions would have to match it dollar-for-dollar. The state would pay its share by taking 9.5 percent of Pennsylvania's annual tobacco settlement money, or about $35 million a year, and using it to pay off the bonds over 20 years. (Another 9.5 percent per year would continue to go directly to institutions for research costs.)

Paying for 20 years sounds daunting, but it is a way to inject a large sum of money into research quickly. According to the state Department of Community and Economic Development, 17 states already are using their tobacco money to leverage bonds. Washington is using $350 million generated in this way to fund bio-research, while five other states also are investing in scientific study in a big way, though not with tobacco funds. Massachusetts, New York and Texas are considering investments of $1 billion or more.

Pennsylvania was fourth among the states in funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2003, but the ranking dropped to fifth in both 2004 and 2005. Research institutions in this state positioned themselves early as leaders in biomedical research, and it would be a shame to waste that momentum.

This sound plan can keep Pennsylvania at the forefront of biomedical research. It's time to invest in Jonas Salk again.