Proposition 38 on the November ballot would provide nearly $8.5 billion for immunology research. That could boost efforts to find cures for cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s.
But new reporting from our partner, CalMatters, has found that if the measure passes, it would designate half of those billions to just one research institute.
If Prop. 38 passes, four billion dollars would be allocated to one unnamed institute that must meet very specific criteria.
The facility must focus on immunology and immunotherapy research and be affiliated with a University of California campus with a medical center that serves more than 3.5 million patients, as well as other terms.
Right now, there appears to be only one research facility in the state that meets these criteria, the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy, based in a UCLA research park.
And that’s not all. The co-founder of this institute is billionaire Gary K. Michelson, who’s also the primary backer of Prop. 38.
Sarah Hill is a professor of political science at Cal State Fullerton who studies California’s ballot process.
“It is very clearly designed to support a specific nonprofit," said Hill. "The way everything is structured and stated.”
The measure’s skeptics also wonder whether it’s fair to commit so much money to just one institute… in a state like California that has so many world class medical researchers.