Aggregated News
State Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, said Friday that she intended to call leaders of the Proposition 71 stem cell program to Sacramento for the first meeting of a new watchdog panel.
Ortiz is a longtime champion of stem cell research but argues that Prop. 71, which was approved by state voters in November, contains serious gaps in areas such as public accountability and ethics standards.
She has proposed legislation to fix the perceived flaws -- and persuaded her legislative colleagues this week to put her in charge of a Senate health subcommittee that will keep track of how Prop. 71 is implemented.
She said during a telephone interview Friday that she had no hostile intent.
"I have been a partner in this," she said.
Still, Ortiz said, she hopes to create "a larger forum" for directors of the new California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to explain their activities and address the concerns of Prop. 71 critics. Ortiz added that she was continuing to press ahead with her legislative amendments.
Prop. 71 architect Robert N. Klein, who now chairs the stem...
Ortiz is a longtime champion of stem cell research but argues that Prop. 71, which was approved by state voters in November, contains serious gaps in areas such as public accountability and ethics standards.
She has proposed legislation to fix the perceived flaws -- and persuaded her legislative colleagues this week to put her in charge of a Senate health subcommittee that will keep track of how Prop. 71 is implemented.
She said during a telephone interview Friday that she had no hostile intent.
"I have been a partner in this," she said.
Still, Ortiz said, she hopes to create "a larger forum" for directors of the new California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to explain their activities and address the concerns of Prop. 71 critics. Ortiz added that she was continuing to press ahead with her legislative amendments.
Prop. 71 architect Robert N. Klein, who now chairs the stem...