Proposition 38 is a sleeper on the ballot. California voters should beware | Opinion

The search for medical interventions that can bolster our immune systems to kill deadly diseases such as cancer is one of the most exciting fields in research. It’s why there is bipartisan support in Congress to spend roughly $2 billion annually in pursuit of cures once thought impossible.

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Yet here in California, there is a proposed $8.4 billion bond on the ballot to fund immunology and immunotherapy research that is both too big and too flawed to seriously consider. Proposition 38 is being underwritten by the backer of an institute affiliated with UCLA that wants to exempt itself from public-records laws.

This is no way to invest public funds in research, and even if it were, no state can afford to replace the federal government’s role in primary research. California voters shouldn’t pretend otherwise. The collective editorial boards of The Sacramento Bee, Modesto Bee, Merced Sun-Star, Fresno Bee and San Luis Obispo Tribune urge a “No” vote on Prop. 38.

The National Institutes of Health funds 332 different condition, research and disease categories. Prop. 38 asks Californians to fund a very narrow slice of the broader medical research spectrum. And it does so in a remarkably underhanded way.

guarantees half the money to an institute tied to a campus healthcare system with a workload volume “greater than 35,000 inpatient admissions and 3,500,000 outpatient visits each year.”

That uniquely describes UCLA and an affiliated institution, the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy. It is backed by a billionaire physician and inventor, Gary K. Michelson. He is the money behind Prop. 38.

The institute’s web page boasts extraordinary goals — “to end disease as we know it within our lifetime.” But the public paper trail on this organization is thinner than ice.

Its latest tax form reports a fund balance of less than $20 million. The institute’s president reported to the Internal Revenue Service that his job required only two hours of work a week. And we’re supposed to trust this institute with $4.2 billion of our money?

It gets worse. Prop. 38 states: “The institute shall not be deemed a public agency for any purpose under state law …” This fine print is a bombshell.

It means we, the paying public, would learn precious little about how this institute operates. The California Public Records Act and other transparency laws would not apply. Today’s shell of an institute wants to become tomorrow’s billion-dollar black box.

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Funding public research should not be a popularity contest. Immunology and immunotherapy are important, but so are countless other fields of medical research.

That is why it makes sense to maintain a national approach to health research rather than create a flavor-of-the-month club in California and other states. Whatever President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk have done or said, a bipartisan coalition in Congress continues to fund federal research.

The leadership of the University of California system should be ashamed to be associated with such a secretive approach to conducting publicly funded research.

Prop. 38 is a sleeper on a crowded ballot, preying on Californians’ goodwill to spend billions that would otherwise go toward running the state. This measure is not a cure. It is a warm-and-fuzzy-sounding initiative designed to keep the public in the dark.