Bill To Rework Parts of California Stem Cell Agency Vetoed
On Saturday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) vetoed SB 1565, a measure that supporters said would strengthen protections to ensure that uninsured Californians would be able to access treatments whose developments were funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
The measure, by Sens. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) and George Runner (R-Antelope Valley), also would have allowed CIRM to fund research involving adult stem cells. Such research already is eligible for federal funding.
The 2004 ballot initiative that created CIRM was launched in response to restrictions that limited federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. The ballot initiative approved the sale of $3 billion in state bonds to fund stem cell research.
In his veto message, Schwarzenegger wrote that CIRM already is achieving the goals of the ballot measure and that SB 1565 "does nothing to advance the will" of voters who approved the ballot measure (Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, 9/29).
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