SB895 - California Science and Health Research Bond Act.

Amended IN Assembly August 27, 2026 Amended IN Assembly August 13, 2026 Amended IN Senate May 14, 2026 Amended IN Senate April 06, 2026 Amended IN Senate March 16, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 895 Introduced by Senators Wiener, Pérez, and Wahab (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Gipson, Irwin, Muratsuchi, Patel, and Solache) (Coauthors: Senators Allen, Becker, Blakespear, Caballero, Cervantes, Cortese, Durazo, McNerney, Padilla, Reyes, Richardson, Rubio, Stern, Umberg, and Weber Pierson) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Addis, Ahrens, Ávila Farías, Bennett, Calderon, Caloza, Carrillo, Connolly, Ellis, Fong, Garcia, Mark González, Haney, Harabedian, Hoover, Ortega, Petrie-Norris, Celeste Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Schiavo, Schultz, Stefani, Wallis, Ward, Zbur, Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bonta, and Sharp-Collins) January 15, 2026 An act to add Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 11899) to Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to the California Science and Health Research Bond Act, by providing the funds necessary therefor through an election for the issuance and sale of bonds of the State of California and for the handling and disposition of those funds. funds, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 895, as amended, Wiener. California Science and Health Research Bond Act. (1) Existing law establishes various grant and loan programs for research, including, among others, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, California Firefighter Cancer Prevention and Research Program, and the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration Program. This bill would establish the California Foundation for Science and Health Research within the Government Operations Agency. The bill would require the Secretary of Government Operations to oversee the process of appointing the director of the foundation, and would authorize the Secretary of Government Operations to delegate the task of hiring and determining the salaries, bonuses, and benefits of additional personnel to the director, as specified. The bill would require the director and personnel of the foundation to be responsible for implementing the strategic objectives of the California Foundation for Science and Health Research Council, as described below, administering grants and loans grants, loans, and contracts awarded by the council, and all other duties as deemed necessary for the operation of the foundation. This bill would create the California Foundation for Science and Health Research and Innovation Acceleration Fund and require the moneys in the fund to be used by the foundation to award grants and make loans to to, and enter into contracts with, public or private research companies, universities, academic medical centers, institutes, and organizations for scientific research and development, development and for certain economic sectors, as specified, in specific areas of research, including, but not limited to, biomedical, behavioral health, and climate research. The bill would also create the California Foundation for Science and Health Research and Innovation Acceleration Benefit Fund, to consist solely of private donations. The bill would make the moneys in the benefit fund available for the same purposes as the California Foundation for Science and Health Research and Innovation Acceleration Fund. This bill would require that, prior to the first grant from the foundation and no later than one year from the date the bill takes effect, the council develop various provisions and requirements to facilitate the foundation’s goals of affordability and equitable access. The foundation shall impose various requirements on the grantees, loan recipients, and contractors, as specified, including, among other things, developing strategies to promote equitable access to the subject invention in various specified communities and making the data resulting from the bond-funded research available to the broader scientific community, except in cases involving national security interests. The council shall also establish standards requiring that all grants, awards, and contracts be subject to intellectual property agreements that balance the opportunity for the State of California to benefit from the inventions, technologies, patents, royalties, and licenses that result from research funded by certain public and private grants, as specified. This bill would create the California Foundation for Science and Health Research Council, as specified. specified, which shall be vested with full power, authority, and jurisdiction over the foundation. The bill would require the council to, among other things, develop the strategic objectives and priorities of the foundation and provide the opportunity for public comment on the foundation’s priorities, as specified, determine the research projects that will be funded by the California Foundation for Science and Health Research and Innovation Acceleration Fund, develop objectives and opportunities that offer support to early career researchers, and adopt certain regulations and standards, as specified. The bill would also require the council to consider how the foundation’s research priorities relate to or support various economic and industry considerations, as specified. The bill would provide that a majority of the members of the council constitutes a quorum for the transaction of any business, for the performance of any duty, or for the exercise of any power of the council, except as otherwise provided. The bill would authorize the council to establish one or more scientific peer review panels consisting of experts in specified fields of research for the purposes of reviewing and prioritizing proposals on the basis of the scientific merit of the proposal, the potential benefit to the health and well-being of the population, natural resources, and environment of the state, and the demonstrated background, training, and expertise of the researchers and investigators to conduct the proposed work. This bill would require all research and development funded by the California Foundation for Science and Health Research and Innovation Acceleration Fund to be conducted under established standards of open scientific exchange, peer review, and public oversight. The bill would require the funds and contracts to be awarded on the basis of the research priorities established for the foundation by the council and the scientific merit of the proposed research, as determined by an open, competitive, scientific peer review process that ensures objectivity, consistency, and high quality. This bill would enact the California Science and Health Research Bond Act, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $5,000,000,000, $7,500,000,000, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, to finance grants and loans to fund research and construct, operate, operate and maintain facilities for research. The bill would provide for the submission of the bond act to the voters at the next statewide general election. March 7, 2028, statewide primary election. (2) Existing law establishes prohibitions and penalties with respect to ethical obligations and conflicts of interest for public officials, including a prohibition on engaging in activities that are incompatible with their official duties and a prohibition on being financially interested in a contract made by them in their official capacity or the board of which they are a part. This bill would authorize a council member to participate in a decision to approve or award a grant or loan grant, loan, or contract for the purpose of research into a disease in which the member or their immediate family member has a personal interest, as specified. The bill would provide that service with specified educational institutions and organizations is not incompatible with a council member’s duties. The bill would provide that the prohibition on being financially interested in a contract, as specified, does not apply if the council member recuses themself from a decision to award or approve a grant or loan grant, loan, or contract that would otherwise be subject to the prohibition. The bill would provide that council members are subject to certain disclosure requirements relating to personal investments and potential conflicts of interest, as specified. (3) Existing law, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, requires that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend any meeting of a state body, with specified exceptions for authorized closed sessions. This bill would require the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act to apply to all meetings of the council and scientific peer review panels, except as specified for when the council or scientific peer review panels meet to consider or discuss specified matters in closed sessions, including matters involving information relating to patients or medical or scientific research subjects, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Digest Key Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. The People people of the State of California find and declare the following: (a) Since World War II, the United States has been a global leader in scientific and health research and innovation. Through the financial support of governmental agencies including, but not limited to, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the scientific and health communities have been able to create life-enhancing scientific, biomedical, and public health discoveries. (b) Americans have benefited enormously from that research with improved health, cures for diseases, vaccines, and improved air quality and environment. The United States economy has benefited greatly from that research as well. (c) California produces an astonishing share of the top scientific research on the planet. It is estimated that $3 of every $10 in federal research investments are drawn to California. The state accounts for about 47 percent of United States biotechnology research and development spending and generates about 53 percent of the nation’s biotechnology revenues. Nearly one-half of all venture capital in the United States is invested in California. That success is driven in large part by the state’s world-class universities and research institutions. The University of California is the top research institution in the world for United States patent generation. Every dollar invested in science funding generates more than $2 in economic activity. (d) Federal research funding has been integral in supporting the work of public and private research institutions in California. For example, federal funding supports a significant part of the University of California’s (UC) and California State University’s (CSU) research operations. Federal grants pay for faculty research and the salaries of graduate and postdoctoral student researchers. Federal research grants totaled more than $5,000,000,000 to the University of California in the 2023–24 fiscal year. Public and private university research has led to the founding of thousands of startups, driving economic expansion and technological innovation. Federal funding reductions limit research opportunities and may impede California’s competitiveness and economic progress. (e) Because the federal government has been one of the largest funders of scientific research in California, foundations, nonprofits, and corporations alone cannot make up the gap when cuts are made by the federal government. Unless the people of California rise up, much of this critical work may come to a halt. Federal cuts to scientific research pose a threat to the well-being of the people of California and will impair California’s ability to operate as a global leader in technology, innovation, and research across fields of study. (f) The people of California propose this ballot measure to create the California Foundation for Science and Health Research (Foundation) to award grants and make loans to to, and contract with, public and private universities, research companies, institutes, and health care organizations in California for scientific and health care research and development. (g) Through the Foundation, funding would be distributed to UC, CSU, other California universities, and public and private entities engaged in critical science and health research. It would provide funding for staff, equipment, and facilities needed to carry out scientific research in fields including, but not limited to, public health, mental health, heart disease, cancer treatment, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, strokes, child and adult leukemia, infectious diseases, and HIV/AIDS. Priority would be given to established research projects where the federal government has canceled funding. The measure would require annual audits. (h) This measure will help preserve California’s position as a global leader in scientific innovation. This measure would allow important research to continue regardless of what happens at the federal level. This measure will ensure that California is not left behind. (i) This measure will help sustain and grow the workforce of the state, with runoff economic benefits that will ensure a thriving future for Californians. This measure will support thousands of students and researchers at California universities in good-paying union jobs in growing industries. Supporting good-paying jobs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will help keep California economically competitive and generate billions of dollars each year in economic growth. (j) There is some science that only public institutions will take on, for example cancer drug trials that combine drugs from different pharmaceutical companies, or as yet, unproven technologies in renewable energy. This measure would continue funding scientific research that looks beyond the profit motive for the greater good. (k) California’s university and college system is a model for universities everywhere, involving stude [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]