Federal stem cell bill an unlikely bet, says Prop. 71 author

By Daniel S. Levine
East Bay Business Times


The father of California's stem cell measure said the prospect of Congress passing legislation that would lift some Bush administration restrictions on federally funded stem cell research will not alter the critical role of public funding in California to advance the work.

Robert Klein, author of Proposition 71 and chairman of the board that oversees the disbursement of $3 billion in California for stem cell research, said the likelihood that Congress would pass the legislation to allow federally funded research using eggs left over from in vitro fertilization procedures is a positive sign that reflects a change in the public's understanding of the importance of embryonic stem cell research.

But even if it survives the threat of a presidential veto, Klein said, the bill will not provide the stable funding environment scientists and research institutes need to commit to the work, since policy can shift with political winds.

"They've seen that even if it is not a congressional problem, the president with an executive order can precipitously change the rules," Klein said. "They can't launch major departments and commit the lives of brilliant scientists and physicians to this new area of chronic research without this stable funding source. California has to provide that platform of assurance for the public sector and academic institutions to really being able to commit."

In May, the House of Representatives passed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 by a vote of 238 to 194. The bill has since sat in the Senate, but at the end of June, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid agreed to schedule a vote on it and two related bills before the end of July.

In 2001, President Bush signed an executive order that restricted federal funding for almost all stem cell research except that involving a small group of stem cell lines that were available in 2001. Bush has vowed to veto the pending legislation and observers say it is unlikely that there would be enough votes to overturn a veto.

"It would be hard for him to come off his current position without offending one of his strongest bases of support at a period of time that he doesn't have very much other than the base going for him right now," said Hank Greely, a law professor at Stanford University.

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