Dana Cody, executive director of the
Life Legal Defense Foundation, is suing to stop the issuance of these bonds on the grounds that the arrangements authorized by the passage of Proposition 71 violate
Article 15, Section 3, of the California Constitution, which states that:
"No money shall ever be appropriated or drawn from the State Treasury for the purpose or benefit of any corporation, association, asylum, hospital, or
any other institution not under the exclusive management and control of the State as a state institution, nor shall any grant or donation of property ever be made thereto by the State…" [bolding added]
Dana Cody, executive director, Life Legal Defense Foundation
Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee (ICOC) approves the sale of $3 billion in embryonic stem cell research bonds
Ms. Cody this afternoon told
California Politics Today that at the May 9, 2005, meeting of the Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee (ICOC), which she attended, the board of directors of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) (both created by Proposition 71), the ICOC approved three resolutions on their meeting agenda involving the issuing of bonds to pay for embryonic stem cell research under the provisions of Proposition 71.
You can access the text of the ICOC meeting agenda items referencing these resolutions (Agenda Items 6, 7, and 8) by clicking
here.
ICOC Chair Robert Klein II attacks "groundless lawsuits"
After that meeting, Robert Klein II, chair of the ICOC, issued a press release, which you can access by clicking
here.
In that statement, Mr. Klein said:
"I am currently working with the staff of the State Treasurer, the Attorney General, the State Director of Finance and State Controller to look at alternative structures for bridge financing by charitable donors or other funding methods and to come to a consensus decision on the best way to ensure funding for the Institute while access to the critical research funding approved by California voters is temporarily blocked by groundless lawsuits."
This language in Mr. Klein's statement would seem to indicate that, until there is a resolution of the law suit brought by Ms. Cody, issuance of any of the $3 billion in bonds authorized by Proposition 71 to be sold by the State of California on its account "is temporarily blocked."
ICOC resolutions authorize sale of $3 billion in embryonic stem cell research bonds
But the language of the three resolutions approved by the ICOC on May 9, 2005, authorizes:
"the issuance of State of California Stem Cell Research and Cures Bonds or Commercial Paper Notes In the Aggregate Principal Amount Not to Exceed $3,000,000,000" and includes "provisions authorizing the agency to obtain loans from the Pooled Money Investment Account or the General Fund,"
authorizes:
"the issuance of State of California Stem Cell Research and Cures Refunding Bonds In the Aggregate Principal Amount Not to Exceed $3,000,000,000"
and authorizes:
"the issuance of State of California Stem Cell Research and Cures Bond Anticipation Notes in the Aggregate Principal Amount Not to Exceed $300,000,000,"
respectively.
Can the sale of $3 billion dollars in embryonic stem cell research bonds go forward?
Trying to resolve the apparent contradiction between the language in the three resolutions passed by the ICOC and the statement by ICOC Chair Klein that "access to the critical research funding approved by California voters is temporarily blocked by groundless lawsuits,"
California Politics Today contacted the office of
California State Treasurer Phil Angelides.
Phil Angelides, California State Treasurer
California State Treasurer Phil Angelides and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer issue a press release about the sale of these bonds and vow to facilitate the sale process
Mr. Angelides' office provided
California Politics Today with a copy of the press release issued jointly by Treasurer Angelides and
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer on Monday, May 9, 2005. To access a copy of that press release, click
here.
That press release confirmed Ms. Cody's report that the ICOC had approved the bonding resolutions, saying:
"The California Stem Cell Research and Cures Finance Committee, chaired by State Treasurer Phil Angelides, today authorized the sale of $3 billion in voter-approved bonds to fund stem cell research. After the meeting, Treasurer Angelides and Attorney General Bill Lockyer, joined by patient advocates, pledged that they will take every possible action to fulfill voters’ wishes to fund the potentially life-saving research, and to clear away legal challenges brought by anti-choice activists in an attempt to halt the sale of the bonds."
What Mr. Klein had called, in his May 9th statement, "groundless lawsuits" are here referenced by California State Treasurer Phil Angelides and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer as "legal challenges brought by anti-choice activists in an attempt to halt the sale of the bonds."
Bill Lockyer, California Attorney General
Attorney General Lockyer is further quoted in the press release as saying:
"The legal claims raised by the opponents have no merit and appear designed only to delay the inevitable. I look forward to working with the Treasurer and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to quickly and effectively prepare these bonds for sale so that California can lead the world's quest for answers to our most serious medical problems."
The press release continues:
"Angelides and Lockyer noted that the legal team suing to stop the stem cell bonds is the Life Legal Defense Foundation, an anti-choice organization. 'We are concerned that a few, narrow anti-choice interests are attempting to thwart the will of California’s voters, who voted decisively to make funding available for this important research. With today’s decision by the Stem Cell Research and Cures Finance Committee, we will do everything possible to implement the voters’ desire to fund research that will help people suffering from debilitating diseases.'"
Press spokesperson for California State Treasurer Angelides confirms that California "cannot go to market with these bonds until these issues are cleared away"
Asked directly by a
California Politics Today reporter if the Treasurer's Office could "quickly and effectively prepare these bonds for sale" as long as the lawsuit brought by Ms. Cody was pending, Mike Roth, Director of Communications for that office, said:
"This office cannot go to market with these bonds until these issues are cleared away."
Then he re-iterated the points made in the press release, saying:
"Treasurer Angelides has vowed to do everything in his power to see that the will of seven million voters who voted for Proposition 71 in November is fulfilled."
Then he added:
"We are exploring options for interim financing and the Treasurer will be returning in 30 days to the finance committee of the ICOC with an update on all of the financing options."
The Treasurer's spokesperson concluded by characterizing what Robert Klein called "groundless lawsuits" and what California State Treasurer Phil Angelides and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer identified as "legal challenges brought by anti-choice activists in an attempt to halt the sale of the bonds" as:
"a concerted effort…by a very narrow-minded interest group with a long history of anti-choice activism."
Disagreement and consensus
While there may be a serious disagreement between Dana Cody and defenders of the ICOC's right to sell $3 billion in bonds for embryonic stem cell research, there's obviously a clear consensus on the part of ICOC Chair Robert Klein, California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, and Office of the State Treasurer spokesperson Mike Roth about how to characterize that disagreement.
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