US states funding stem cells

Created: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 Print

Several US governors have committed state money to controversial stem cell research, despite President George Bush's veto of legislation that hoped to expand federally financed projects. Stem cell research has become a hot-button campaign issue in elections across the country, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Bush supporter, cited the veto as he lent $150 million from the state's general fund last Thursday to pay for grants to stem cell scientists. In Illinois, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich offered $5 million for similar grants in his state. Before those announcements, the Times reported, the only money available was $72 million that five states had allocated for the research and $90 million that the US National Institutes of Health had provided since 2001 for work on a restricted number of stem cell lines.

Within hours of Bush's veto last Wednesday, funding for stem cell research became key issues in elections in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri and Tennessee. In many cases, Republican moderates, mindful of polls showing public support for expanded stem cell research and expecting attacks from Democrats, sought to distinguish their positions from the president's, the Times reported. – (HealthDayNews)