California Gov. Gavin Newsom just before a meeting in Sacramento. ((Photo: Matt Gush, cvia Shutterstock)Gov. Gavin Newsom, long a supporter of the California stem cell agency, today endorsed Proposition 14, the November ballot measure to give the agency $5.5 billion more and save it from financial extinction.
Personnel at UCSF's facility in Fresno, which may benefit if Proposition 14 is approved. (Photo: UCSF)Proposition 14, the fall ballot measure to save California’s stem cell agency from financial extinction, contains much, much more than the $5.5 billion that it is seeking from the state’s voters. Added to the agency’s charter would be research involving mental health, “therapy delivery,” personalized medicine and “aging as a pathology.“ That is not to mention a greater emphasis on supporting “vital research opportunities” that are not stem cell-related.
DNA is injected into a stem cell. (Photo: Spectral-Design, via Shuttertock)The California stem cell agency has just finished pumping $5.3 million into the fight to save the lives of Covid-19 victims. And — in a ballot-box bonus — its efforts are already surfacing in the ballot campaign to rescue the agency from its own demise. The agency is running out of money. It will begin closing its doors this fall without major financial support that it hopes will come from Proposition 14, a $5.5 billion bond measure on the November ballot.
A cancer stem cell researcher in the laboratory. (Photo: science photo, via Shutterstock)A $5.5 billion stem cell bond measure qualified this afternoon for the November ballot, but the campaign to win voter approval is facing an array of hurdles that its supporters never envisioned last summer when they were formulating the initiative.
A signature gatherer in Ventura during the 2018 election cycle. (Photo: Michael Gordon, via Shutterrstock)Backers of a $5.5 billion stem cell research initiative in California have suspended their efforts to gather signatures to place it on the November ballot, but are expressing confidence that the proposal will qualify. The campaign said it had run afoul of statewide bans on public gatherings.
An iillustration of California's official voter information for the March 3 ballot. (Photo: Wild as Light, via Shutterstock)The March 3 primary is right around the corner, but nearly 2 million California voters have already cast ballots. As these voters return their ballots, many are receiving an email to participate in a Capitol Weekly survey asking about their experience, who they voted for and why. This survey, conducted since the beginning of the early voting period, has reached more than 7,500 voters, nearly 6,000 who participated in the Democratic presidential primary.
A middle school in Marin County. (Photo: Osaze Cuomo, via Shutterstock)PPIC: A March ballot measure to authorize state bonds for public education facilities is supported by slightly more than half of voters. Seven in ten Californians approve of Governor Newsom’s proposal to spend $1 billion to address homelessness. These are among the key findings of a statewide survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California.
A pipette and vessels usd in stem cell research. (Photo: CI Photos, via Shutterstock)The price tag for refinancing California’s unique and ambitious stem cell research program could run to close to $7.8 billion, give or take a few hundred million dollars or more. So says the state’s legislative analyst in a financial analysis of a proposed ballot initiative that is likely to be on next November’s ballot.
A clinical researcher with a multi-pipette arrangement of cancer stem cells. (Photo: Science Photo, via Shutterstock)One of the nation’s leading regenerative medicine industry groups is touting multi-billion dollar savings that may be achieved with the type of stem cell and gene therapies that are being developed with cash from California’s financially beleaguered stem cell program.
Preparing a wish list and goals for the coming year. (Photo: AniKona Ann, via Shutterstock)Due to the journalistic enterprise constantly demonstrated by our army of reporters, we’ve obtained a copy of the list and is deploying it below. Along with a few predictions, here is what Sacramento and Washington notables want more than anything in 2020.