SACRAMENTO — Officials at California's new stem cell institute and a state senator deadlocked this week on a compromise for legislation that would regulate the $3 billion agency, but the question of whether the bill could pass both houses of the Legislature at all still remains.
Sen. Deborah Ortiz's Senate Constitutional Amendment 13 would establish stronger conflict-of-interest rules and open-meetings standards for the institute and ensure stem cell treatments and cures are available and affordable to all Californians. Because it would change the state constitution, SCA 13 has to pass both the state Senate and Assembly by a two-thirds majority on or before June 30. Then, California voters would have to approve the amendment.
Proposition 71, which created the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, precludes the Legislature from changing the language of the proposition for three years, unless voters approve the changes.
Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, an opponent of Ortiz's bill, told The Examiner it is unlikely SCA 13 will get enough votes to get on the ballot.
Speier on Monday praised the CIRM board for its willingness to compromise — officials have met with Ortiz numerous times in recent weeks and agreed to voluntarily establish some of the regulations — but said it isn't "right for any of us standing out here to impose greater restrictions on you."
However, Ortiz, a Democrat representing Sacramento, pointed out that the bill already passed through five Senate committees with unanimous, bipartisan approval.
"It will be a huge challenge," she conceded. "But most of my colleagues are very supportive."
Despite compromises, Ortiz and institute officials still disagree on whether a constitutional amendment is necessary, and at a meeting Monday the key sticking point related to how the institute could ensure cures and treatments reach all Californians.
Ortiz said state bond lawyers have warned her that the language of Prop. 71 could hurt the institute's ability to issue tax-exempt bonds. Board members, however, said their lawyers think the amendment's wording could lead to endless litigation.
The proposed amendment currently reads, "[The CIRM] shall seek to ensure that treatments, therapies and services … are accessible and affordable to low-income residents."
Ortiz called the requirement a "policy statement," but several board members said it would require the impossible — that the agency ensure every grant handed out leads to cures accessible to all Californians — and would chase away prospective companies, delaying cures.
San Francisco Deputy City Attorney David Serrano Sewell, a CIRM board member who met with Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, on Monday afternoon, said he is unsure whether voters would ever see the amendment on the ballot. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata's support of SCA 13 would make it "hard" to kill the bill, he said, but "anything could happen in the Assembly."
source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/articles/2005/06/07/news/20050607_ne06_stemcell.txt 7jun2005
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