Editorial: Hefty Salary for CIRM Chief Raises Concerns

Jonathan Thomas, the new head of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, "not only makes more money than the governor, he makes twice as much as the chief of the National Institutes of Health," a Los Angeles Times editorial states. It adds that "what especially rankles about Thomas' big paycheck is that his hiring comes at a time when most state agencies are making radical cutbacks and when the institute itself is considering a ballot measure to ask voters for billions in new funding." The editorial concludes that supporters of such a ballot initiative "will have a phenomenally tough sales job on their hands."

• "California Agency: Little Cells, Big Salary" (Los Angeles Times, 7/7).