Hartford - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's plan to put up nearly $300 million in grants and a "forgivable loan" to attract a biomedical research laboratory to the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington is quickly losing bipartisan support.

"So far, all that I've seen points to this being a very, very risky and very rich economic development deal," state Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-Greenwich, said Thursday.

The governor announced last month with great fanfare that Jackson Laboratory of Bar Harbor, Maine, had committed to building a roughly $500 million lab at the health center that would employ at least 300 pefranople within a decade. By the early 2030s, the facility could expand and become a $1.1 billion facility that would employ 600 people or more.

Under the proposed incentive deal, the state would provide the not-for-profit research institution with a $99 million grant along with a $192 million construction loan that would become a grant once the lab meets certain benchmarks, such as creating 300 or more jobs within 10 years. Details of the other benchmarks were not immediately available late Thursday afternoon.

The incentives - and the deal - hinge on legislative approval. The Malloy administration sought to incorporate the Jackson Lab plan into a broader economic development and jobs growth package for the legislature's Oct. 26 special session.

Democrats and Republicans have been meeting for weeks to forge a bipartisan agreement on the contents of that package.

But the Jackson Lab part of the bill grew too controversial among Republicans, despite early statements by Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, and House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, R-Norwalk, who were both on hand last month to congratulate the governor on snagging a major bioscience company.

On Thursday, Malloy said that he now expects the lab deal to be voted on separately.

"I think it has widespread support, but it probably doesn't have universal support," he said. "So rather than to try to force it into a single action, I think it would probably make sense … to do it on a separate vote."

To be sure, the lab deal doesn't appear to be in any danger, as Democrats hold majorities in both legislative chambers and could muster the votes to pass it without GOP help.

Jackson Laboratory tried for 2½ years to build a similar facility in Florida, but gave up earlier this year when officials there couldn't offer the desired incentives.

Republican legislators met Wednesday with Jackson Lab executives while they were in Connecticut.

Some have since questioned the administration's projections for 4,000 new "spinoff" jobs in the sciences from the lab project once it is fully built out in 20 years. The projections also anticipate 2,200 additional "indirect jobs" from the full-sized lab, such as service industry hires. In addition, 842 construction jobs are expected.

Frantz called the forecasts "over the top." And with such generous incentives from the state, "there isn't going to be a company that comes to Connecticut that doesn't have their hand out."

The Republican said he would prefer that Connecticut lower taxes for all companies rather than dispense special incentives for certain firms.

State Rep. Chris Coutu, R-Norwich, said he plans to vote no on Jackson Lab because he doesn't think it's right to shower benefits on one company after having just raised taxes on all residents this year.

Coutu was among a large contingent of Republicans this spring who opposed the Malloy administration's science initiative that involved a $864 million transformation of the UConn Health Center. The initiative passed.

Asked about Republicans' criticisms of the jobs forecast model for Jackson Lab, Malloy replied, "If they give me a (jobs) model they want me to use, we'll run another model."

"I'll tell you this: If we don't make the investment in UConn, and (Jackson Laboratory) doesn't make the investment, we're not going to see any of the jobs," he said.

j.reindl@theday.com

Editor's Note: Sen. L. Scott Frantz's name was spelled incorrectly in earlier versions of this story. It has been corrected.