Messages In This Digest (3 Messages)
- 1.
- July 31, 2008 AGAINST THE LAW? The Fatal Flaw of Calif. SB 1565 From: Stephen Meyer
- 2.
- SEND ONE EMAIL-- TO PROTECT CALIFORNIA'S STEM CELL PROGRAM From: Stephen Meyer
- 3.1.
- New file uploaded to StemCellInformation From: StemCellInformation@yahoogroups.com
Messages
- 1.
-
July 31, 2008 AGAINST THE LAW? The Fatal Flaw of Calif. SB 1565
Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" Stephen276@comcast.net stephen_meyer_stemcells
Sun Aug 3, 2008 9:28 am (PDT)
July 31, 2008 AGAINST THE LAW? The Fatal Flaw of Calif. SB 1565
When a submarine goes under, it groans. The ocean squeezes in with a
pressure of tons, and the sub's metal walls grind and strain-- and
the life of every sailor aboard is at risk.
What if a submarine was built with a structural weakness? Cruising
across the surface, the vessel makes a great appearance. Nothing seems
wrong. But there is a design flaw, a faulty joining of the metal plates,
and when the submarine dives to its working depth, 200 feet down, the
cumulative pressure of tons of sea will burst through the walls.
Senate Bill 1565 (Kuehl, Runner) has a fatal flaw, and to let it go
forward would be as wrong as sending sailors out in a sub with a hole in
it.
SB 1565 would make fundamental changes in the California stem cell
program, over-riding the wishes of the voters.
This is only one legal reason way this can be done: to further the
purpose of the program. If it does not, and is accordingly illegal, SB
1565 can and should be challenged in court.
Here is the relevant language.
"Sec. 8. Amendments.
"The statutory provisions of this measure…may be amended to
enhance the ability of the institute to further the purposes of…the
measure…"
Does Senate Bill 1565 "further the purposes" of the California
stem cell program?
The purpose of Prop 71 is crystal clear: to fund pluripotent and
progenitor stem cell research unlikely to be funded by the Bush
Administration.
To accomplish this, Prop 71 established a priority and a prohibition:
the priority in favor of pluripotent stem cell research, and a
prohibition against spending California's limited funds on other
forms of stem cell research already eligible for federal funding.
Article XXXV of the California Constitution: Section 5, Chapter 3.
California Stem Cell Research and Cures Bond Act, Article 1. 125290.60
"(C) In order to ensure that institute funding does not duplicate or
supplant existing funding, a high priority shall be placed on funding
pluripotent stem cell and progenitor cell research that cannot, or is
unlikely to, receive timely or sufficient federal funding, unencumbered
by limitations that would impede the research. In this regard, other
research categories funded by the National Institutes of Health shall
not be funded by the institute."
Notice two points:
1. a priority: preference for research "unlikely to be funded"
by the Federal government:
2. a prohibition: "other research categories… shall not be
funded by the institute."
SB 1565 would overturn the prohibition, and throw out the priority.
Such enormous changes do not "further the purposes" of the
program.
But don't take my word for it.
Here is the actual changed paragraph in SB 1565:
"(D) "Notwithstanding paragraph (C), any other scientific and
medical research and technologies and/or any stem cell research proposal
not actually funded by the institute under subparagraph (C) may be
funded by the institute if at least a simple majority of a quorum of the
members of the Scientific and Medical Research Funding Working Group
recommend to the ICOC that the research proposal is a vital research
opportunity."
Word changes matter. Buried in that legalese is an enormous change:
important to stem cell research as the small print on a real estate
contract is important to the buyer. The original language of "Shall
not be funded" has become "may be funded".
Imagine the Biblical Commandment: "Thou shalt not kill." What
if "shalt not" had been changed to "may"?
Granted, almost every law requires an exception—the soldier in war
must sometimes kill.
The writers of Prop 71 left room for an exception. Anticipating there
might be advances that would not be embryonic, they required a 2/3
majority support of the Scientific working group to recommend
non-embryonic stem cell research (heavily favored by the Bush
Administration). This exception has worked quite well: and has allowed
the funding of non-embryonic stem cell research work by CIRM-funded
scientists. But the new language removes the 2/3 requirement, and
replaces it with a bare majority.
Such changes plainly do not "further the purpose" of Prop 71.
How could the California Senate vote to approve such a bill? They
didn't. The Senate has not yet been told about this change in SB
1565. It was added by Senator George Runner after the bill left the
Senate. Senator George Runner, of course, is the man called "the
virulently anti-embryonic stem cell Republican George Runner"—he
opposes embryonic stem cell research in general and Proposition 71 in
particular-- this is his amendment, and it was added after the bill left
the Senate.
The Senate Concurrence Committee will meet to consider these changes.
It is to be hoped they will take notice of this bill's fatal flaw,
and vote NO! on SB 1565.
Please send letters to opposing SB 1565 to Senator Tom Torlakson, Senate
Concurrence Committee, Capitol Office, Room 5050, Sacramento, CA 95814
Or Email (less effective, but definitely worth doing) to:
http://legplcms01.lc.ca.gov/ PublicLCMS/ ContactPopup. aspx?district= SD07
<http://legplcms01.lc.ca.gov/ >PublicLCMS/ ContactPopup. aspx?district= SD07
Don C. Reed
Sponsor, Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act
co-chair, Californians for Cures
Vice President, Public Policy, Americans for Cures
- 2.
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SEND ONE EMAIL-- TO PROTECT CALIFORNIA'S STEM CELL PROGRAM
Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" Stephen276@comcast.net stephen_meyer_stemcells
Sun Aug 3, 2008 11:11 am (PDT)
SEND ONE EMAIL-- TO PROTECT CALIFORNIA'S STEM CELL PROGRAM
Dear Friend of Stem Cell Research:
I ask you to send one email to eight people, the members of the
California Senate Rules Committee.
Here is a suggested email. Feel free to use any part of it. At the top
of the letter, put:
Your name, address, and phone number, (They need to know you are a real
person):
RE: Opposition to Senate Bill 1565 (Kuehl,Runner).
Dear Senator:
As a (state your reason for supporting stem cell research, for example,
as the father of a paralyzed young man) I strongly oppose Senate Bill
1565, (Kuehl,Runner).
Please be aware that Senate Bill 1565 has been changed since you voted
on it. The bill now contains a poison pill amendment, offered by Senator
George Runner, a known opponent of the California stem cell research
program. The Runner amendment not only defies the will of the voters,
but may violate the California Constitution.
First, here is our stem cell program's current law, which was
enacted by the electorate, and written into the California State
Constitution:
"(C) … a high priority shall be placed on funding pluripotent
stem cell and progenitor cell research that cannot, or is unlikely to,
receive timely or sufficient federal funding…Other research
categories…shall not be funded by the institute."
--Article XXXV of the California Constitution: Section 5, Chapter 3.
California Stem Cell Research and Cures Bond Act, Article 1. 125290.60.
As you know, our stem cell program may only be amended to
"…enhance the ability of the institute to further the purposes
of…the measure…"—Section 8, Amendments.
And Senator Runner's amendment, recently added to SB 1565?
"(D) "Notwithstanding paragraph (C), any other scientific and
medical research and technologies and/or any stem cell research proposal
not actually funded by the institute under subparagraph (C) may be
funded by the institute..."
This turns our program upside down! Proposition 71 was enacted by the
voters to give priority to forms of stem cell research not likely to be
funded by the federal government. The Runner amendment removes that
priority, and would instead allow precious research dollars to be spent
on "any other scientific and medical technologies". That could
be almost anything; a bedpan is a piece of medical technology.
How can such a complete reversal be said to "further the
purposes" of our stem cell program? Such seeming violations of the
Constitution are almost certain to invite legal actions; have we not had
enough lawsuits, enough delays?
The original intention of SB 1565, to guarantee access of stem cell
therapies to the uninsured, has already been achieved, and without the
need for this bill. Bill author Senator Sheila Kuehl, a highly respected
legislator, has publicly stated that she and CIRM (California Institute
for Regenerative Medicine) are "on the same page" regarding how
low-income residents could receive benefits from CIRM-developed
products.
But the Runner amendment could gut the California stem cell program.
Those who know, oppose. SB 1565 is opposed by the Coalition for the
Advancement of Medical Research, which is a board of more than 80
medical, educational, and disease advocacy groups: as well as every
other stem cell research support group which has taken a position on the
issue.
On behalf of every California family with a loved one suffering from
chronic disease or disability, I urge your "NO" vote on Senate
Bill 1565, when it comes before you for concurrence.
Thank you.
YOUR NAME
Below are the email addresses. If you have time, also consider calling
to leave a message (just say your name, and that you want the Senator to
know you are in strong opposition to Senate Bill 1565), and best of all,
a letter or fax. (Full contact information follows.)
Write your letter, cut and paste it for each of the following Senators.
(use any part of the sample letter you wish). Remember (for those as
computer challenged as myself) you can just put the cursor on the email
address and then press control click, and you will go right to the email
with the address already done for you. Or, if you are really stressed
for time, type all the emails into the address box and one letter to
all. Individually is better, but anything is better than nothing.
Don Perata
Senator.Perata@sen.ca.gov <mailto:Senator.Perata@sen.ca.gov >
Leland Yee
Senator.Yee@sen.ca.gov <mailto:Senator.Yee@sen.ca.gov >
Gloria Romero
Senator.Romero@sen.ca.gov <mailto:Senator.Romero@sen.ca.gov >
Carole Migden
Senator.Migden@sen.ca <mailto:Senator.Migden@sen.ca > .
Jim Battin
Jim.Battin@sen.ca.gov <mailto:jim.battin@sen.ca.gov >
Gilbert Cedillo
senator.cedillo@sen.ca.gov <mailto:senator.cedillo@sen.ca.gov >
Robert Dutton
senator.dutton@sen.ca.gov <mailto:senator.dutton@sen.ca.gov >
Alex Padilla
senator.padilla@senate.ca. <mailto:senator.padilla@gov senate.ca. >gov
How you contact them is up to you. But consider this: if these Senators
do not hear from the stem cell research support community, SB 1565 will
absolutely pass—and we will be faced with a much larger and more
difficult battle to undo the changes that will be thrown at us—at a
time when we should be focusing our efforts at the national level.
For more information, go to www.stemcellbattles.com
<http://www.stemcellbattles.com/ > .
Thank you,
Don C. Reed
Co-chair, Californians for Cures
Sponsor, Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act
Vice President, Public Policy, Americans for Cures
Here is full contact information.
Don Perata
Senator.Perata@sen.ca.gov <mailto:Senator.Perata@sen.ca.gov >
Capitol Office
<http://dist09.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7b929754D4- \
CF67-4F60-A9E7-1A0FCCDD0913% 7d&DE=%7bA28F6CB A-41A3-48C2- A0BF-5B73BA933AC \
6%7d
State Capitol, Room 205
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax (916) 327-1997
District Office
<http://dist09.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7b929754D4- \
CF67-4F60-A9E7-1A0FCCDD0913% 7d&DE=%7bDFA0FC2 C-81C8-4AB7- 9C63-F2774FE8301 \
5%7d
1515 Clay Street, #2202
Oakland, CA 94612
Fax (510) 286-3885
Press Office
<http://dist09.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7b929754D4- \
CF67-4F60-A9E7-1A0FCCDD0913% 7d&DE=%7b4030E40 9-30D0-4D0E- 92F5-7D3B16EA682 \
F%7d
State Capitol, Room 500
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 323-2277
Leland Yee
Senator.Yee@sen.ca.gov <mailto:Senator.Yee@sen.ca.gov >
Capitol Office
<http://dist08.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7b3F2FD3F9- \
6BEF-4CA0-B666-E56CF0E05331% 7d&DE=%7bE4E8A9B 5-D63F-4541- AA90-CFB24954251 \
7%7d
State Capitol, Room 4048
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4008
San Francisco Office
<http://dist08.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7b3F2FD3F9- \
6BEF-4CA0-B666-E56CF0E05331% 7d&DE=%7bC5DF3CB 6-451A-4ED4- B217-F70BB3C1E57 \
0%7d
455 Golden Gate Avenue, Suite 14200
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 557-7857
San Mateo Office
<http://dist08.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7b3F2FD3F9- \
6BEF-4CA0-B666-E56CF0E05331% 7d&DE=%7bA6AF12F 7-C4F0-457D- B7E7-1B02B6A3488 \
E%7d
400 South El Camino Real, Suite 630
San Mateo, CA 94402
Phone: (650) 340-8840
Gloria Remero
Senator.Romero@sen.ca.gov <mailto:Senator.Romero@sen.ca.gov >
Capitol Office
State Capitol, Room 313
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4024
Fax: (916) 445-0485
District Office
149 S. Mednik Ave
Suite 202
Los Angeles, CA 90022
Phone: (323) 881-0100
Fax: (323) 881-0101
Carole Migden
Senator.Migden@sen.ca <mailto:Senator.Migden@sen.ca > .
Capitol Office
<http://dist03.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7b56963EB7- \
D808-474F-ACF5-62F9BD81AE8A% 7d&DE=%7bFC0C9C4 1-67AB-4517- AED8-97EE6F88FF3 \
E%7d
State Capitol, Room 5114
Sacramento, CA 95814
Marin/San Rafael District Office
<http://dist03.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7b56963EB7- \
D808-474F-ACF5-62F9BD81AE8A% 7d&DE=%7b8BCB392 A-4FCB-4EC6- A79E-C468404C13E \
4%7d
Marin Civic Center
3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 425
San Rafael, CA 94903
San Francisco District Office
<http://dist03.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7b56963EB7- \
D808-474F-ACF5-62F9BD81AE8A% 7d&DE=%7bB4E4D6D 4-4B5E-4AB8- 9315-7A0265B2573 \
8%7d
455 Golden Gate Ave
Suite 14800
San Francisco, CA 94102
Jim Battin
Jim.Battin@sen.ca.gov <mailto:jim.battin@sen.ca.gov >
Capitol
Palm Desert
Moreno Valley
State Capitol, Room 3063
73-710 Fred Waring Dr., #112
13800 Heacock, Suite C-112
Sacramento, CA 95814
Palm Desert, CA 92260
Moreno Valley, CA 92553
Phone: (916) 651-4037
Phone: (760) 568-0408
Phone: (951) 653-9502
Fax: (916) 327-2187
Fax: (760) 568-1501
Gilbert Cedillo
senator.cedillo@sen.ca.gov <mailto:senator.cedillo@sen.ca.gov >
Capitol Office
<http://dist22.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7bF020006A- \
EF0B-43BB-9CFA-990C9A0646C9% 7d&DE=%7bC6F3DC6 6-CDB0-4770- 8050-1E45EB01C12 \
1%7d
State Capitol, Room 5100
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax (916) 327-8817
District Office
<http://dist22.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7bF020006A- \
EF0B-43BB-9CFA-990C9A0646C9% 7d&DE=%7b5010A87 C-83F0-4E22- 97AD-C7456A4553E \
2%7d
617 South Olive Street
Suite 710
Los Angeles, CA 90014
Robert Dutton
senator.dutton@sen.ca.gov <mailto:senator.dutton@sen.ca.gov >
Capitol Address: State Capitol, Room 5094, Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax (916) 327-2272
District Address: 8577 Haven Avenue, Suite 210, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
91730
Fax (909) 466-4185
District Address: 3560 University Avenue, Suite B, Riverside, CA 92501
Fax (951) 715-2627
Alex Padilla
senator.padilla@senate.ca. <mailto:senator.padilla@gov senate.ca. >gov
Capitol Office
<http://dist20.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7b3F175381- \
A010-4837-A50B-EA96843653A1% 7d&DE=%7bA79EB6A 2-0DE5-403B- B55A-A577D2E7E8F \
6%7d
916-651-4020
State Capitol, Room 4032
Sacramento, CA 95814
fax (916) 324-6645
District Office
<http://dist20.casen.govoffice. >com/index. asp?Type= B_LOC&SEC= %7b3F175381- \
A010-4837-A50B-EA96843653A1% 7d&DE=%7b4A670DC 2-FB0D-49E3- BA1A-28E9B62BD61 \
4%7d
818-901-5588
6150 Van Nuys Blvd., #400
Van Nuys, CA 91401
fax (818) 901-5562
- 3.1.
-
New file uploaded to StemCellInformation
Posted by: "StemCellInformation@yahoogroups.com" StemCellInformation@yahoogroups.com
Sun Aug 3, 2008 11:14 am (PDT)
Hello,
This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the StemCellInformation
group.
File : /HOW WE CAN WIN.doc
Uploaded by : stephen_meyer_stemcells <Stephen276@comcast. net >
Description : HOW CAN WE WIN is a file form Don Reed who needs our help to protect California's Stem Cell Program. California has been on the cutting edge of stem cell legislation and they need our help.
You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/StemCellIn formation/ files/HOW% 20WE%20CAN% 20WIN.doc
To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:
http://help.yahoo.com/ l/us/yahoo/ groups/original/ members/web/ index.htmlfiles
Regards,
stephen_meyer_stemcells <Stephen276@comcast. net >
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