CA Stem Cell Efforts Gain Momentum

State Stem Cell Efforts Gain Momentum In Wake Of California’s Prop 71

Passage of California’s Proposition 71, the Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, has inspired a wave of similar state efforts to introduce legislation or balloting measures that support stem cell research.

With the approval of Prop 71 last November, California voters paved the way for an unprecedented $3 billion investment in stem cell research funding over the next decade.

Because the Bush Administration has imposed restrictions on the number of stem cell lines eligible for federal research dollars, states such as New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Illinois are drafting legislation that would offer financial support for the widely debated research.

Missouri lawmakers, meanwhile, are seeking to prohibit human cloning and embryonic stem cell research through legislative efforts.

In the most significant move since the passage of Prop 71, New Jersey acting Gov. Richard Codey (D) called for a $380 million investment in stem cell research, priming his state to become second only to California in financial commitment to the research. The proposal, announced in Codey’s “State of the State” speech Jan. 11, includes $150 million in unspent bond money to support the New Jersey Stem Cell Research Institute and a $230 million ballot initiative for stem cell research grant making.

On Jan. 12, Codey, joined by physicians and stem cell research advocates, visited the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, N.J., where he revealed some details of his proposal. The acting governor announced his plans to “front-load” the bond issue, speeding the distribution of funds to seven years instead of 10.

The competitive repercussions of Prop 71 have been felt in other Eastern states. Connecticut legislators appear primed to vote on a bill that would establish a stem cell research “trust fund” and create an advisory committee to delegate grant making and oversight.

Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell (R) recommended putting a small amount of her state’s FY 2004 surplus into the fund. Aides to Rell say the governor is prepared to support $10 million-$20 million in stem cell financing as a one-time expense, whereas state lawmakers are calling for an investment of $100 million over 10 years.

State Sen. George Gunther (R), one of the bill’s sponsors, said his bill enjoys bipartisan support and will come before the Connecticut Senate’s public health committee for debate at the end of January.

The measure’s aims are “productive” and a “big plus” for biomedical research in the state, Gunther asserted, but opponents such as the Catholic Conference of Connecticut are aligned against the bill.

Forty Democratic and Republican members of the Connecticut legislature held a press conference Jan. 11 to announce their support for the bill.

Connecticut United for Research Excellence President and CEO Paul Pescatello said, “Gov. Rell and the General Assembly Leadership have each recommended providing state funds to make Connecticut a center for embryonic stem cell research….This legislation is about curing disease and it is also about creating an economic development engine.”

The bill will create a “safe haven” for embryonic stem cell research in Connecticut, said Pescatello, who helped draft the legislation. He noted the bill also bans human cloning but authorizes no such ban for therapeutic cloning.

Midwestern states also are taking steps to fill the federal gap by offering their own financial proposals. Last November, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) debuted a new $750 million investment leveraging the state’s public and private funds for biotechnology, health sciences and stem cell research, including creation of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

In Illinois, lawmakers are drafting legislation that supports a dramatic increase in the state’s commitment to stem cell research. Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes (D) proposed the creation of a state-funded institute modeled after the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine.

The proposal, which will be subject to a statewide referendum next year, also would free up $1 billion for grant funding over the next decade by imposing a surtax on elective cosmetic surgery.

Hynes is confident the measure will pass, an aide said, because proponents will not be asking legislators to vote for or against stem cell research, but will turn to Illinois’ voting public to make the decision.

According to Hynes, “In the absence of federal leadership, the state of Illinois has no choice but to step up and act in the best interests of its citizens. The Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute will do just that.”

The measure is being drafted by state Sen. Jeff Schoenberg (D), who also was author of a bill promoting private financing of stem cell research that fell two votes short of approval in the Illinois Senate in November.

The creation of IRMI will be determined by a ballot referendum held during the 2006 general election. “Our plan creates and funds a mechanism backed by real dollars to produce scientific research that carries the very real prospect of medical breakthroughs,” Hynes said.

Similarly, Massachusetts is making inroads toward allocating state funds to support stem cell research. In his Jan. 5 inaugural address, state Senate President Robert Travaglini (D) called for the “immediate passage of a comprehensive stem cell research bill.”

“This issue has languished for too long,” Travaglini said. “In the eyes of many, we have lost ground in our competition with states such as California and New Jersey.”

Ultimately, lawmakers want to see a bill that reflects Massachusetts’ dedication to the life sciences as well as its efforts to energize the economy.

The stem cell bill is positioned to be the first major initiative for the Massachusetts Senate this year, an aide to Travaglini said.

A spokeswoman for Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) said that although the governor supports stem cell research, he will wait until he sees the bill is drafted before publicly taking a position.

Not all state legislative pushes are in support of stem cell research. Missouri Rep. Jim Lembke (R) and his allies are preparing legislation to ban human cloning, which also would include a ban on somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), also known as therapeutic cloning, a procedure that would be key to the clinical application of embryonic stem cell research. Two previous efforts to pass similar legislation did not succeed, but Lembke expressed confidence that the bill would be enacted this year.

Lembke’s bill proposes to restrict not only SCNT, but any future technology that would seek to create a human embryo by any other means than the union of sperm and egg, the Missouri state representative said.

Lembke plans to provide complementary legislation that would promote adult stem cell research, which he asserted is more promising than embryonic stem cell research. State legislation banning reproductive and therapeutic cloning is necessary, Lembke said, because similar attempts appear to be stalled at the federal level.

By Andrew J. Hawkins, courtesy of Washington Fax