Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
California Voters Weigh In On Stem Cells, Dialysis, Property Taxes And More
California voters have rejected Proposition 23, a ballot initiative that would have created new safety regulations for kidney dialysis clinics that serve 80,000 patients. The initiative sought to require that clinics always have a doctor on site during treatments, which patients with kidney failure must receive routinely to stay alive. Prop. 23 was behind by a wide margin in unofficial returns, with a simple majority needed for passage. (Gardiner, 11/3)
A ballot measure to authorize $5.5 billion in new funding for stem cell research was leading in early returns Tuesday. Proposition 14 asked voters to approve an infusion of cash for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, known as CIRM, for stem cell studies and trials. California voters created CIRM in 2004 after approving a bond measure that year for $3 billion. CIRM used that bond money for research grants, new laboratories and training programs, but unallocated funds ran out last year, prompting supporters of the agency to return to taxpayers for additional money. (Gutierrez, 11/3)
The fate of Proposition 15, an effort to remove high-value business properties from the low-tax protections enacted by California voters more than four decades ago, was unclear in early election returns Tuesday, after an expensive and fierce campaign over how much to spend on government services and the economic effects of raising taxes. The ballot measure was opposed by a razor-thin majority with more than 9.5 million ballots counted, a shortfall that was far from certain with millions of votes left to count. (Myers, 11/3)
Los Angeles County voters on Tuesday were strongly favoring passage of a ballot measure that would divert more county funds to social services and jail diversion program, according to early results from the L.A. County registrar-recorder’s office. With 18% of the in-person ballots counted along with 81% of mail-in ballots, 58% of voters had cast ballots in favor of the proposal, called Measure J, according to the results. (Cosgrove, 11/3)
