CGS-authored
When we last checked in on Robert Klein II and his quasi-public, $3 billion stem cell research program, the barbarians were banging at the gates and Klein's coterie was getting a bit antsy.
Now, as it turns out, the barbarians not only include a rag-tag coalition of biotech watchdogs, good-government advocates and editorial writers, but also key legislators who seem to be ready for a fight.
On Wednesday, the unlikely duo of Sens. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, and George Runner, R-Lancaster, proposed a Senate constitutional amendment that would reform Proposition 71, the Klein-penned law that created the stem cell research program.
Among other things, the amendment makes the stem cell institute and its advisory panels subject to open meeting laws and tougher conflict-of-interest requirements.
These basic requirements should have been written into Proposition 71 from the start. If taxpayers are to lend $3 billion for a research program, they deserve assurances that key institute advisers don't make recommendations that end up enriching themselves, their associates or their stock holdings.
The Ortiz-Runner amendment is an important step in that direction. And it...
Now, as it turns out, the barbarians not only include a rag-tag coalition of biotech watchdogs, good-government advocates and editorial writers, but also key legislators who seem to be ready for a fight.
On Wednesday, the unlikely duo of Sens. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, and George Runner, R-Lancaster, proposed a Senate constitutional amendment that would reform Proposition 71, the Klein-penned law that created the stem cell research program.
Among other things, the amendment makes the stem cell institute and its advisory panels subject to open meeting laws and tougher conflict-of-interest requirements.
These basic requirements should have been written into Proposition 71 from the start. If taxpayers are to lend $3 billion for a research program, they deserve assurances that key institute advisers don't make recommendations that end up enriching themselves, their associates or their stock holdings.
The Ortiz-Runner amendment is an important step in that direction. And it...