Prop. 71's fine print contains surprises: Tightly written law leaves little room for oversight or changes

The $3 billion stem cell initiative that passed overwhelmingly last month holds surprises for voters who didn't read it -- starting with a provision that the research money doesn't have to be spent on stem cell studies.

It's also not the case, contrary to campaign pitches for Proposition 71, that the $3 billion raised from state bonds won't cost the state anything for the first five years. Interest payments will begin immediately, paid out of the bond money itself -- meaning that tens to hundreds of millions of "research" dollars must be used to pay debt service.

And as lawmakers and critics have learned, if they find fault with the ballot initiative, changing it could be tough. Under the proposition's terms, the state Legislature can't modify the law for three years. Even then, it can do so only by a 70 percent vote of both houses and with the governor's approval.

Some laws are like a car patched together from spare parts, but the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative is built like a tank. Lawyers involved in...