Stem Cell Research Information + Impact

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1.: Email to eight people, the members of the California Senate Rules Co From: Stephen Meyer

Message

1.: Email to eight people, the members of the California Senate Rules Co

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" Stephen276@comcast.net stephen_meyer_stemcells

Tue Aug 5, 2008 7:16 am (PDT)

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.

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/> , and click on archives.

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=%7bA28F6CBA-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=%7bDFA0FC2C-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=%7b4030E409-30D0-4D0E-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=%7bE4E8A9B5-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=%7bC5DF3CB6-451A-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=%7bA6AF12F7-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.govCapitol>
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=%7bFC0C9C41-67AB-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=%7b8BCB392A-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=%7bB4E4D6D4-4B5E-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.govCapitol>
Capitol Office
State Capitol, Room 3063
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax (916) 327-2187
Palm Desert District Office
73-710 Waring Drive #112
Palm Desert, CA 92260
Fax (760) 568-1501
Moreno Valley District Office
13800 Heacock Suite C-12
Moreno Valley, CA

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=%7bC6F3DC66-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=%7b5010A87C-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.govCapitol>
Capitol Office
State Capitol, Room 5094
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax (916) 327-2272
District Office
8577 Haven Avenue, Suite 210
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
Fax (909) 466-4185
District Office
3560 University Avenue, Suite B
Riverside, CA 92501
Fax (951) 715-2627

Alex Padilla

senator.padilla@senate.ca.gov <mailto:senator.padilla@senate.ca.gov>
Capitol Office
<http://dist20.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_LOC&SEC=%7b3F175381-\
A010-4837-A50B-EA96843653A1%7d&DE=%7bA79EB6A2-0DE5-403B-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=%7b4A670DC2-FB0D-49E3-BA1A-28E9B62BD61\
4%7d>
818-901-5588
6150 Van Nuys Blvd., #400
Van Nuys, CA 91401
Fax (818) 901-5562

Don C. Reed
Sponsor, Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act
co-chair, Californians for Cures
Vice President, Public Policy, Americans for Cures

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