University of California sponsors $23 billion research funding bill

The University of California is sponsoring a bill that would place a $23 billion bond on the November ballot to fund scientific research across the state, amid widespread cuts to university research funding under the Trump administration.

“University research has been under sustained attack over the past year,” UC President James B. Milliken said in a statement Thursday. “This bill aims to protect the remarkable advances benefiting millions of Californians now and in the future. We are proud to cosponsor this bill and will always stand up for science.”

The bill — Senate Bill 895 — was introduced by state Sen. Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco, earlier this year. The legislation is also endorsed by United Auto Workers Region 6 and Union of American Physicians and Dentists, unions that represent thousands of researchers across the state.

Wiener said in a statement Thursday that he’s proud to partner with the University of California, which has been at the center of scientific leadership for decades, in the “fight to take back control” of California’s research funding.

“As the federal government upends science funding, California must stand up to defend science and to double down on our state’s global science leadership,” Wiener said.

In the last year, the Trump administration has slashed more than $3 billion in research funding to colleges and universities, according to an estimate by the Center for American Progress, a public policy and research and advocacy organization.

The administration has cited antisemitism on campuses, failures to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and university policies that allow transgender student athletes to participate in sports as just some of the reasons for the funding cuts to hundreds of higher education institutions across the country.

In California, the National Institutes of Health has canceled more than $55.9 million in grants to Bay Area universities, targeting research on health equity, transgender youth, anti-racism and discrimination, vaccines, and aging.

The University of California receives more than $5 billion annually in federal funds for research and other programs, according to the university, with the NIH as its largest source of federal funding.

Last March, the University of California estimated it had lost at least $37 million in funding. And in July, the federal government froze $584 million in research funding to UC Los Angeles, alleging that the university allowed antisemitism, continued affirmative action programs and transgender athletes to participate in sports. The Trump administration demanded the university pay a $1 billion fine in exchange for restoration of the funds, but dropped its demands last month.

UC President Milliken said in a September letter to the university community that the federal government’s threats to cut university funding “represents one of the gravest threats to the University of California” in its 157-year history.

“Losses of significant research and other federal funding would devastate UC and inflict real, long-term harm on our students, our faculty and staff, our patients, and all Californians,” Milliken said. “It would also end life-saving research from which all Americans benefit.”

He said the loss of federal funding would mean fewer classes and student services, reduced access to health care, tens of thousands of jobs lost across the state, and “an exodus of world-class faculty and researchers to other states or countries.” Milliken said many UC campuses have already experienced layoffs because of cuts to federal research funding and other financial pressures. The university imposed a system-wide hiring freeze last year in response to potential funding cuts.

If passed, SB 895 would establish the California Foundation for Science and Health Research, which would fund competitive research grants, low-interest loans and modernized research facilities to public or private research companies, universities, institutes and organizations for scientific research and development.

The bill also includes requirements to make health care more accessible by ensuring Californians get discounts for pharmaceuticals developed through the bond-funded research. The bill would allow the state to recoup a portion of licensing and royalty fees from inventions and technologies developed with research dollars.

The bill is jointly authored by Senator Sasha Pérez of Pasadena and Aisha Wahab of Fremont. More than 30 legislators have co-authored SB 895, including two Republicans — Assemblymember Josh Hoover, who represents Folsom, and Assemblymember Greg Wallis, who represents Rancho Mirage.