Posted on 10/31/2006 9:05:04 PM PST by NormsRevenge
A highly publicized $150 million state loan that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger promised California's cash-strapped stem cell agency in July has yet to materialize, a delay apparently caused by red tape and election year politics.
Schwarzenegger's announcement on July 21 that "they need the money now" came the day after President Bush vetoed legislation that would have expanded federal funding of stem cell research, which many political conservatives oppose because days-old embryos are destroyed. At an emotional August meeting of the committee that manages the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, members praised Schwarzenegger for his political courage and were told by an aide to expect the money by the end of that month.
"This is a unique and extremely complicated financial transaction with a lot of moving parts," said California Department of Finance spokesman H.D Palmer. "It has taken a little bit longer than anticipated, but nobody has been slow on this."
The loan can't be authorized until a stem cell finance committee headed by state Treasurer Phil Angelides, Schwarzenegger's Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial race, convenes and approves it. No meeting has been scheduled.
But state officials said politics has nothing to do with the delay. Instead, they said they're working out a payment schedule among the stem cell agency's lenders, which include six philanthropic organizations that have ponied up a combined $14 million.
A spokesman with the treasurer's office said he expects the finance committee to meet and approve the loan later this month, after the Nov. 7 election. He said the finance department gave no indication that the money was needed immediately.
The stem cell agency was created by Proposition 71 in 2004 and is authorized to borrow $3 billion to pay for human embryonic stem cell research that Bush blocked from federal funding. But two state court lawsuits filed by conservative groups challenging the agency's constitutionality have prevented it from borrowing any of that money.
An Alameda Superior Court judge earlier this year ruled in the agency's favor, but the loans from Wall Street bond buyers still can't be made until appeals are exhausted.
Meanwhile, it has been getting by on philanthropic donations.
The stem cell institute's spokesman Dale Carlson said the delay isn't surprising because of the unprecedented bureaucratic and legal channels the loan has to navigate before approval. He said the stem cell agency has enough cash to carry it through the end of the year.
The loan can't be authorized until a stem cell finance committee headed by state Treasurer Phil Angelides, Schwarzenegger's Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial race, convenes and approves it. No meeting has been scheduled.
But state officials said politics has nothing to do with the delay. Instead, they said they're working out a payment schedule among the stem cell agency's lenders, which include six philanthropic organizations that have ponied up a combined $14 million.
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What a mess... and a waste of time and money.
Michael J. Fox! Call your office. Someone needs another one of your campaign ad specialties! Follow the money.
Somebody needs to draft a ballot measure to retract Prop 71 in its entirety.
It was idiotic at inception... and continues to be.
Headline makes it seem like Arnold hasn't kept his promise while Angelides is the one responsible! Bias?
Prop 71 was only approved back in 2004 (I voted against it) and already the "agency" is screaming poverty!
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