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January 17, 2005

With Eye on Rivals, Senator Proposes New York Institute

By MIKE McINTIRE

Hoping to catch up to other states that are aggressively supporting research on embryonic stem cells, Democratic leaders in the New York Senate announced legislation yesterday that would commit $1 billion to a similar effort in New York.

The proposal, offered by David A. Paterson, the Senate Democratic leader, calls for the creation of a New York stem cell institute to regulate research in the field, as well as make loans and grants to organizations and companies. It is similar to an initiative under way in California, which approved a $3 billion stem cell research fund last year, and to a $380 million proposal announced last week by New Jersey's acting governor, Richard J. Codey.

Mr. Paterson referred to California at a news conference at City Hall, saying its program, which is poised to begin making its first research grants within months, represents "our chief competition." He added: "Of course, New York still has an advantage because of our vast intellectual power and network of public and private universities, research centers and medical facilities, but that gap is closing."

Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, a Manhattan Democrat, bluntly warned that New York stood to suffer economically if it did not act soon to support private-sector research initiatives. "If the state of New York doesn't recognize the competitive need, our research scientists are all going to change their tune from 'I Love New York' to 'California, Here I Come' in a very short period of time," he said.

Mr. Paterson made his announcement two days before Gov. George E. Pataki is to present his 2006 state budget proposal. The senator said that he hoped the governor, a Republican, would eventually include the money in the budget for the next fiscal year, which begins in April, but that he had not yet commented on the matter.

Jennifer Meicht, a spokeswoman for the governor, said the administration would not comment on Mr. Paterson's proposal until it had reviewed it. "Generally, the governor has been supportive of the concept of stem cell research," she said.

Under the proposal, the state would borrow up to $1 billion over 10 years. Unless the governor includes funding for it in his budget, the project stands little chance of becoming reality. The initiative would require approval by voters in a referendum.

With the state facing a projected $6 billion deficit next year, growing to $7.7 billion the year after that, it is unclear how much support there will be in Albany for adding to the debt burden. Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat who has proposed a law to create ethical guidelines for stem cell research, said that the roughly $100 million a year to finance the institute was relatively small in the context of the state's $100 billion budget.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company