The $1 billion life sciences initiative posed by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is dealing with some scrutiny lately. The new president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council faces a state ethics investigation about his transition from the public to the private sector, and has declined to publicly discuss the bill.

Massachusetts Biotechnology Council President Robert Coughlin has announced he will not publicly discuss the bill, since, as a former state employee (he was a state representative from Dedham and the governor's undersecretary of business development) he cannot lobby the legislature until next year, according to the Boston Globe.

He said he plans to avoid lobbying the state government until September, one year after he joined the council, and will focus his lobbying at the federal level, where he has no restrictions.

Also according to the Globe, Coughlin continued acting as Patrick's point person on the life sciences initiative without telling his bosses that he was also vying for the presidency of the council, which comes with a $500,000 salary. He is facing a State Ethics Commission investigation about his hiring.

Coughlin's predecessor, Thomas Finneran, stepped down in January when he pled guilty to obstruction of justice, about false testimony he gave in 2001 over voter redistricting. It was recently revealed that he received a performance bonus of nearly $50,000.