The Stakes: California may ask voters to offset Trump cuts with a bond measure to fund scientific research

This story is part of “The Stakes,” a UC Berkeley Journalism project on executive orders and actions affecting Californians and their communities.

When the federal government rescinded millions of dollars in grants to California researchers earlier this year, state Sen. Scott Wiener proposed a way the state could raise its own research funding and steer how it is spent. 

He wants the Legislature to ask voters to support a $23 billion bond measure to fund science and research in California. 

Last month, Wiener launched a campaign to get the measure on the 2026 ballot, rallying with scientists and researchers at Mission Bay Commons Park in San Francisco. 

Earlier this year, Wiener, who represents San Francisco and surrounding communities, introduced the California Science and Health Research Bond Act to counter the Trump administration’s cuts to science and research. While the current version is with the Senate Rules Committee, Wiener said he will introduce a revised version of the bill in January. If it passes the Legislature, the measure will appear on the November ballot.

“As Donald Trump and his cronies do everything that they can to destroy all the federal science agencies, we need to stop them from destroying and cutting science research,” Wiener said at the rally. “We can’t backfall everything the federal government does. The scale is so large, but we should be doing whatever we can.” 

The crowd cheered and applauded as Wiener asked Californians to step up and lead for science. Several dozen people attended the rally, mostly graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and professors as well as community members. Signs reading “Save science, save lives” rose high above the participants, many of whom wore red T–shirts in solidarity with United Auto Workers Local 4811, which helped organize the rally. 

Ryan Manriquez, who was born with a rare neuromuscular disease that weakened his muscles over time, told the crowd that research funded by the National Institutes of Health in 2016 saved his life. Manriquez served as the president of the University of California Graduate and Professional Council, a nonprofit that advocates for graduate and professional students.

“This was a decades-long effort that was secured by scientists, researchers and families who dedicated themselves to our communities,” Manriquez said. “It is because of them I live a life today of public service.”

The bond is backed by the University of California and UAW, which represents more than 48,000 UC workers.

Wiener said the state budget can’t support scientific research in the long term. The science bond would set up the California Foundation for Science and Health Research, creating a state-centered model for science funding. The foundation would award grants to public and private universities, as well as research companies and health care organizations.

Tanzil Chowdhury, a senior UAW 4811 member, said the union and UC have to work together to fight attempts to destroy higher education.

“We’re really happy that the administration has chosen to work with us, and we want to see that sort of collaboration extend beyond this,” Chowdhury said.  

Federal grants are a major source of funding for the UC system, totaling $5 billion in the 2023 fiscal year, according to the bill’s text. UCSF Vice Chancellor of Research Dr. Harold Collard said the federal government cancelled 104 UC San Francisco grants this spring. Those cuts not only impacted patients, employees and students but also the state economy, he said. 

One rally speaker noted that the grant losses led to hundreds of UCSF layoffs, forcing some international researchers to leave the country.

That was the case for Surabhi Rathore, a computational biologist at UCSF who was doing post-doctoral research into the virus that causes COVID-19. She came to UCSF after volunteering her time in India to work on a vaccine during the pandemic. 

Expecting that her contract would be extended past its expiration in September, Rathore’s husband quit his job in India to be with her in San Francisco. Rathore received her termination letter on April 3, a day before her husband landed in the U.S. 

“My initial reaction was to hold back my tears and see how we’re going to steer through the situation,” Rathore said, “because you know, life goes on.”

Unable to find another position, Rathore moved back to India with her husband. Both are looking for jobs now.

Voters back similar bill in 2004

UCLA also stands to lose a significant amount of federal money, with about $500 million in grants withheld after Trump took office. In August, the Trump administration demanded UCLA pay $1.2 billion for alleged anti-Semitism. 

UC President James Milliken said paying that penalty would “completely devastate” the UC system. In the meantime, a federal judge ordered the government to restore most of the grants. 

“Although funding has been reinstated, it’s not easy to just pick up and restart a research program that’s been paused for four months,” Collard said. 

In some cases, a project’s scope has been narrowed as a result, he said. 

Wiener’s proposal would keep university research from relying so heavily on the federal government. And it would not be the first time California has voted for taxpayer-funded research. Through a 2004 measure, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine became the first taxpayer-funded state agency in the U.S. to fund the development of treatments for a diverse range of diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s and COVID-19. 

After NIH grant cuts, the institute doubled its budget for basic research awards, as applications nearly tripled in April, according to Elizabeth Noblin, a senior science officer there.  

To get on the ballot, a bond measure must be approved by two-thirds of both the Senate and Assembly. California voters have approved more than 70% of the 47 bond measures since 1993. But in 2020, they rejected a $15 billion bond measure to modernize schools and colleges.

By passing a bond, voters allow the state to borrow money and repay it with interest over many years, using public funds. Debt payments on bonds don’t come directly from taxes but from the state’s general fund, which covers a host of services and programs, explained Florence Bouvet, an economist at the Legislative Analyst’s Office. 

The bill states that for every dollar invested in science funding, the state generates more than $2 in economic activity. Wiener said this is a key reason why California is the world’s fourth-largest economy.

This story was co-published in Richmond Confidential.

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