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Stem Cell Proposition Headed for Approval Sen. Boxer also appears set for re-election, according to Times exit polling. By Jesus Sanchez Times Staff Writer November 2, 2004, 8:01 PM PST A $3-billion measure to fund research into embryonic stem cells was headed for approval in California tonight, according to a Times exit poll of voters. Voters also seemed set to re-elect Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and to defeat two measures that would have expanded casino gambling in the state, the exit poll showed. Proposition 72, a measure to require companies with more than 50 workers to provide health insurance to their workers, was locked in a tight race. California voters also were to decide the fate of proposals to overhaul the state's three strikes sentencing law — Proposition 66 — and impose a tax surcharge on the state's wealthiest individuals to pay for mental health programs, Proposition 63. The stem cell initiative, Proposition 71 on the state ballot, would provide $300 million a year for a decade to fund research using embryonic stem cells. The money would come from the sale of state bonds. Because the money would go only to researchers in California, supporters of the measure said it would put the state in the forefront of the search for cures to a wide range of ailments, including Parkinson's disease, paralysis and Alzheimer's. The federal government has for many years been the main source of funds for biological research in the country. But in 2001, President Bush sharply restricted the use of federal money to pay for research using cells from human embryos. The California ballot measure was promoted, in part, as a rebuff to Bush's policy. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger embraced the measure despite the opposition of the state Republican Party. Opponents of the measure included the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and some prominent religious conservatives who opposed the research because it involves the destruction of human embryos. But preelection polls showed a large majority of California voters believed that the potential benefits of the research outweighed the harm. In the face of those polls, opponents of Proposition 71 focused on the cost of the measure — an estimated $6 billion over the life of the bond. But the opposition was heavily outspent by supporters of the measure. A similar gap in funds affected the Senate race, where Boxer raised and spent far more than her Republican opponent, former California Secretary of State Bill Jones. Lacking money, Jones achieved the dubious distinction of becoming the first major party Senate candidate in the state in decades to go through an entire general election campaign without airing a single television advertisement. SNIP SOURCE: The Los Angeles Times / Town Hall, DC http://tinyurl.com/4y8ja * * *Murray Charters <[log in to unmask]> Please place this address in your address book Please purge all others Web site: Parkinsons Resources on the WWWeb http://www.geocities.com/murraycharters ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn