Supreme Court Upholds Proposition 71

Supreme Court Upholds Proposition 71

Time to Celebrate!!
Supreme Court Upholds Proposition 71!

This afternoon, Wednesday, May 16th, the California Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a lower court decision in favor of the California Independent Citizen's Oversight Committee, which was created through the voter-approved Proposition 71.

This decision frees the $3 billion in funding for stem cell research that has been stalled over the last 30 months by opponents' frivolous legal challenges. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine is finally able to sell bonds to fund this life-saving research!

California voters approved Proposition 71 in 2004. Although the Institute had not been able to sell bonds to fund the science due to the outstanding lawsuits, they were able to move forward with a combination of generous gifts from the Dolby family and others, loans to the Institute by civic leaders and philanthropists through the purchase of Bond Anticipation Notes (BANs), and support from Governor Schwarzenegger, who authorized a loan from the state to the Institute of $150 million. (To see the BANs purchasers, click here and here.)

Patient advocate Don Reed had this to say about today's decision: "Justice has triumphed. The will of California voters has prevailed - the hard work and dreams of stem cell research supporters can move forward in the Golden State at last! A moment to remember!"

Congratulations to us all on this historic day!

Yours in celebration,

Amy Daly, RN
Executive Director