Bond. Prop 38

From the Sacramento Bee: Three former employees of the California Legislative Analyst’s Office came out in strong opposition against Proposition 38 Thursday, arguing that the ballot measure that seeks to support medical research lacked appropriate provisions for transparency and accountability. Instead, they said, it seemed to “steer public funds” to its billionaire backer’s “philanthropic project” and then “hide its tracks.” The proposition will ask voters in the November election to allow the state to borrow $8.4 billion to support medical research in immunology and immunotherapy conducted by California research institutes and universities.

...CalMatters reported only one research institute in California appeared to meet the criteria included in the measure for the nonprofit that would be awarded half the bond proceeds. That institute is the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy [CIII], an independent medical research organization affiliated with UCLA. Gary Michelson, a billionaire philanthropist and medical inventor, is both the co-founder of that institute and the chief backer of Proposition 38...

First announced in 2024, the CIII is currently under construction and scheduled to open soon...

Full story at https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article317199654.html.

Reminder - From the UCLA Newsroom (2024):

Key takeaways

The UCLA Research Park will occupy the former mall site, a 700,000-square-foot property 2 miles from the Westwood campus.

The research park will house the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA and the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, as well as programs across the disciplines.

This acquisition was made possible in part by an intended $500 million investment from the state of California, with $200 million already allocated.

The California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy is also supported by a group of founding donors led by Meyer Luskin, Dr. Gary Michelson, Dr. Eric Esrailian, Dr. Arie Belldegrun, Sean Parker and Michael Milken...

Full news release at https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-to-transform-empty-mall-into-research-park.