CALIFORNIA: Budget Ax Looms On Stem-Cell Research

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

CALIFORNIA: Budget Ax Looms On Stem-Cell Research
BACKERS BLAST GOVERNOR'S PLAN TO CUT PROGRAM ON GUIDELINES
By Lisa M. Krieger
Mercury News

Posted on Mon, Jan. 12, 2004

Guidelines that chart a course for the state's ambitious stem-cell research 
effort could lose funding under Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's proposed budget.

The guidelines -- which would have offered expert legal and ethical advice, 
costing $250,000 -- are on a list of
programs to be sacrificed in an effort to close the state's $14 billion 
shortfall, according to the California
Department of Finance, the governor's chief fiscal adviser.

The news disappointed supporters of the program, which holds the promise of 
turning the Bay Area into a mecca for stem-
cell research.

``This is a tragic mistake, because these guidelines are a way to ensure that 
all research is on the up and up,'' said
Don Reed of Fremont, who founded the organization Californians for a Cure when 
his son Roman suffered a severe spinal-
cord injury in a football game.

``These guidelines create accountability,'' he said.

Law Professor Hank Greeley of Stanford University's Center for Biomedical 
Ethics agreed, saying ``from a budget
perspective, it seems like a foolish decision. It is very shortsighted to stop 
a program in which California is a
leader -- just to save money that, in the context of the overall budget, is 
less than pocket change.'' The governor has
proposed a $99 billion budget for 2004.

``California's economic future could certainly benefit -- much more than 
$250,000 -- by having successful
implementation of stem cell guidelines, which would make it clear to scientists 
what can, and cannot, be done,''
Greeley said.

California cemented its role as the national hub for stem-cell research with 
the signing in September of two new and
important laws, sponsored by state Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento. One goal 
of the program was to lure top-notch
scientists to the state, creating new companies and thousands of jobs.

One bill, SB 771, required the state to create a stem-cell registry to make it 
possible for scientists to get embryos
for research. That remains untouched by the governor.

The second, SB 322, requires the state by 2005 to write guidelines for research 
using human embryonic stem cells. This
is the bill slated for repeal.

The state's research program was created to solve a huge problem facing 
scientists: The federal government only pays
for research that is conducted using a dozen or so approved lines of stem cells.

New Jersey joined California earlier this month as the only states expressly 
allowing embryonic stem-cell research.
Eleven other states are trying to follow California's lead with their own 
legislation.

California's tradition of including guidelines in its creation of new programs 
``has built a strong reputation for the
state'' among scientists, said Sue Markland Day of the Bay Area Bioscience 
Center, a trade group for the region's
biotech industry. ``It creates prestige and greater visibility, because it 
boosts the quality of a program.''

Ortiz says she'll resist any effort to repeal her bill. ``To not allow the 
Department of Health to move forward and
develop guidelines is bad policy,'' she said.

``Research into stem cells will continue,'' she vowed. But if the bill is 
repealed, ``it will go forward without the
important ethical and legal oversight that these guidelines could provide.''

Contact Lisa M. Krieger at lkrieger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or (408) 920-5565

SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, CA


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