$450 million stem cell funding in New Jersey will be put to voters

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has proposed funding of $450 million for stem cell research in the state. The measure, already passed in the Assembly by 50 votes to 27 and in the Senate 31 to 3, will be placed on the ballot box in time for November's referendum. If voters approve the bonds it will pledge $45 million per year for ten years to help fund existing research institutions through grants awarded for research using somatic, embryonic and cord blood stem cells.

'Ethically and morally, we're doing the right thing', said Corzine, who has already directed funds towards the research. Last week, Corzine attended a ceremony to commence the building of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey, a $150 million research centre paid for from funds approved by the state legislature, scheduled to be completed in 2011. 'The Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey will serve as the nexus of cutting edge scientific breakthroughs that will improve and save the lives of millions of our fellow citizens,' said Corzine at the ceremony.

The Institute will also feature the 'Chrisopher Reeve Pavillion' to honour the late 'Superman' actor, paralysed in a horse-riding accident and who died in 2004. Reeve vigorously campaigned for all stem cell research, including that using embryos, to be publicly funded in the US, in the hope that such research may help to find cures and treatments for spinal cord injuries, among other conditions. 'The motto of the Reeve Foundation is 'Move Forward', said his brother, Benjamin, also in attendance at the ceremony. The Stem Cell Institute will provide facilities for both clinical and academic research, as well as for outpatient treatment. Corzine told the audience: 'This is an exciting moment, maybe the most exciting since I've become governor. We need to send the message loud and clear that New Jersey is strongly in support of this effort.'

However, not everybody in New Jersey has welcomed the proposed funding. An appeals court will revisit the first instance decision made by Judge Edwin Stern that the language contained in the ballot box proposal was not misleading. In throwing out a claim brought by the Legal Center for the Defence of Life, acting on behalf of the New Jersey Right to Life and some 15 citizens who claim the language does not make clear that the money will be used to fund human therapeutic cloning (SCNT), Judge Stern held that the language was indeed 'fair, balanced and neutral'. The appeals court is expected to rule quickly to allow one side to appeal to the state Supreme Court, should they chose to do so, but that it may not come before November's vote on the funding is conducted.