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By GREGORY J. VOLPE
GANNETT STATE BUREAU
State lawmakers have agreed to seek to borrow $450 million for state grants to stem cell research scientists and now have about two weeks to finalize their attempt to put the request before voters in November.
In the New Jersey Legislature, the fight over stem cell research has been less between liberals and conservatives over the ethics of embryonic stem cell research and more about Democratic leaders trying to agree how much the state should borrow.
Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen, D-Union, who was backing a measure to borrow $500 million over 10 years, said he and Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, who is backing a measure to borrow $230 million over seven years, have agreed on $450 million over 10 years.
Codey could not be reached for comment.
The two have announced agreements several times over the years, but this time with the Legislature set to recess at the end of June, Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr., D-Camden, has fast-tracked the proposal, taking it out of the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee and placing it at its next scheduled stop before the Assembly Budget Committee, which will merge the plans into one.
While the Legislature has until 70 days before the Nov. 6 election to approve a ballot question, Cohen said the Assembly Budget Committee, Assembly and Senate have to approve the measure before lawmakers recess in about two weeks after completing the budget.
If approved in November, the state will borrow money to pay for research projects approved by a panel of national experts on different diseases and research. The bonds would be paid back through the state's operating budget and whatever investment returns the state treasurer negotiates for successful projects.
Cohen said he has no doubts that voters will approve the measure despite their already high tax burden.
"That's always a concern, everybody has their area of interest and it's more important for me in terms of usage of dollars to try to cure a newborn of leukemia or a 12-year-old of leukemia than whether I have another exit on the Turnpike," Cohen said. "It's a matter of where your priorities are in terms of policy."
Conservative groups have opposed the measure because it will fund research on embryonic stem cells, which they consider unethical and unlikely to lead to cures as adult stem cells have.
"We have continued to ask the Legislature to limit the funding to (adult stem cell) research so that taxpayer money would be spent wisely, responsibly and efficiently," said Marie Tasy, executive director of New Jersey Right to Life. "And the Legislature has ignored our request despite the overwhelming breadth of evidence that indicates that the money should be spent on this type of research."
Countered Cohen: "We don't know where everything is moving and how it's moving. We just don't want to limit research and the research is going to be done in a scientifically sound and ethical manner."
The legislative agreement was revealed the same day the state Economic Development Authority authorized a $9.2 million grant to begin building the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick.
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