Schwarzenegger backs stem cell plan

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorsed a $3 billion bond measure that would fund human embryonic stem cell research, a move that bucks Republican leaders and threatens to further strain the state's budget.

"California has always been a pioneer," Schwarzenegger said Monday. "We daringly led the way for the high-tech industry and now voters can help ensure we lead the way for the biotech industry."

The endorsement of the stem cell research measure comes at some political risk for the governor, who campaigned against California going deeper into debt when he unseated Gray Davis as governor in last year's recall election.

The endorsement also will put Schwarzenegger at odds with the state Republican Party, which officially opposes Proposition 71, and perhaps the Bush administration, which has limited federal funding of the research.

"It's a surprise given the economic challenges facing the state," said Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College who is voting against the measure.

"Social conservatives might be unhappy, too, but he was never their favorite anyway."

Schwarzenegger has said he supports...