California lawmakers propose $23 billion bond to cover Trump cuts to science funding

Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday announced an ambitious effort for California to make up for billions of dollars the Trump administration is seeking to cut from scientific and medical research, which critics say threatens American innovation and health.

The proposal, SB 607, would ask state voters in November 2026 to authorize the issuance of bonds for $23 billion. That ballot measure would create and fund the California Foundation for Science and Health Research to continue developing cures for cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and other diseases, as well as discoveries in climate science, wildfire prevention, pandemic preparedness and other fields.

The federal government has historically been one of the biggest funders of scientific research in California and other states.

But the Trump administration has proposed slashing more than $27 billion in funds to the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, NASA and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

“What we’re seeing now at the federal level is nothing short of horrifying. …. Science has been one of the pillars of American prosperity,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who introduced SB 607 with Assemblymember José Luis Solache Jr. (D-Lynwood).

The UCLA campus in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2022.

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Raquel Natalicchio

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CalMatters

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“California needs to lead, and we are already a leader on science,” Wiener said. “We should double and triple down on that leadership and make California the absolute global epicenter of scientific research and discovery.”

The University of California estimates it could lose a significant portion of the roughly $5.7 billion in federal research and program support dollars it receives annually. The Trump administration has already taken steps to freeze about $584 million of that funding at UCLA, though a judge ordered the government last month to restore some of the grants.

The federal government has said that some of the research projects targeted for funding cuts are no longer priorities. At other times, the administration has used funding freezes to pressure universities to change their policies and practices on admissions, sports, transgender issues and other areas over allegations of antisemitism and civil rights violations — as in the case of UCLA.

Dr. David Shackelford, a professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, said the work he leads to find new treatments for lung cancer has been suspended since the federal government halted about $8 million for his laboratory.

“The impacts have been incredibly devastating, and this is really hurting patients ultimately,” said Shackelford, one of the scientists who spoke in support of SB 607 during a press conference. “This bill is a lifeline for us to continue this outstanding research that really California leads the way in.”

If voters approve the bond measure, the California Foundation for Science and Health Research would provide grants and loans to UC, CSU and other California universities as well as public and private institutions, giving priority to established research projects that the Trump administration defunded. Strict fiscal accountability standards would rule the foundation’s operations, including annual independent audits and public disclosure of all funding allocations, according to SB 607.

A previous bill introduced by Wiener, which would have funded scientific research with dollars from the state budget, died in the Legislature due to cost concerns.

Graduate student researcher Elaine Huang said nearly all the funding dried up for the laboratory where she searches for new Alzheimer’s therapeutics. The loss of funding could undo years of work, and many of her fellow scientists might lose their jobs, she said.

“I’m feeling really uncertain about my future as a scientist in this country. And I know many of my colleagues feel this sentiment as well,” Huang said. “If we can come together and pass [SB 607], we can really keep the light of progress from going dark.”

State bonds, a way for California to borrow money from investors in exchange for repayment with interest, are typically used to pay for infrastructure projects such as bridges and roads. But California voters have approved the issuance of bonds for other uses, including a 2004 measure that funded a stem cell and gene therapy research agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.