Maryland Senate Subcommittee Reduces Budget For Stem Cell Research

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Article Date: 05 Mar 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D) proposed budget for stem cell research was reduced from $23 million to $5 million for fiscal year 2009 by the state Senate's Health, Education and Human Resources subcommittee, part of the more than $80 million in cuts made to the proposed budget made on Friday, the Washington Post reports (Wagner, Washington Post, 3/1).

Maryland and other states have provided funding for stem cell research during the past few years in response to restrictions on federal funding, the Baltimore Sun reports (Smitherman/Wheeler, Baltimore Sun, 3/1). Maryland lawmakers allocated $15 million for the research in 2006 and $23 million in 2007. According to one legislative analyst, the funds provided by the General Assembly are outpacing distribution by the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, also known as TEDCO, which runs the program.

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State Sen. Richard Madaleno (D) said, "The reduction is not a repudiation of the goals of the program," adding, "It's just a question of whether we can afford to do it at the same level, given the fiscal condition of the state" (Washington Post, 3/1).

Sen. Ulysses Currie (D), chair of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, said the cut is the panel's initial effort to reduce state spending in anticipation of negative revenue forecasts scheduled to be released next week, adding that the remaining funds would be sufficient to continue awarding grants at the same rate as in the past. Stem cell research advocates said that the funding cut would devastate the state's stem cell research efforts. They added that many of the grants are paid out over two to three years and that $5 million would allow for only a fraction of the grants already disbursed. "If they lower or stop funding for one year, it's going to kill the program" John Kellermann, president of Maryland Families for Stem Cell Research, said.

Curt Civin, a cancer researcher with Johns Hopkins University who received a three-year grant, said researchers need multiyear grants to establish their laboratories and conduct studies. He added that the funding cuts would devastate stem cell work just as "exciting things are happening." O'Malley spokesperson Rick Abbruzzese said the governor remains committed to funding stem cell research but recognizes the state's fiscal situation (Baltimore Sun, 3/1).

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