“In California, we should be supporting scientific research around diverse communities,” said Wiener, who is widely thought to be a contender for Sen. Nancy Pelosi’s House seat in the midterms. “But to be clear, what Trump and Musk are doing is way broader than that. They’re upending all scientific research, DEI and otherwise, and so we need to do what we can to enhance our science research capacity here in California.”
The California Institute of Scientific Research would fill the void caused by federal funding cuts, Wiener said. The agency would support state institutions and researchers conducting studies in areas including, but not limited to, biomedicine, climate, coastal and marine ecosystems and disease prevention.
The bill would also direct CalRX, a state program that produces and distributes prescription drugs such as generic insulin, to partner with other agencies to improve vaccine accessibility for Californians.
California’s local public health departments are already reckoning with a measles outbreak, with over 300 confirmed measles cases this year. Many experts are attributing the rise in infections to lower vaccination rates in school-age children.
Kennedy and other health officials have already begun proposing alternatives to traditional vaccinations when it comes to dealing with diseases such as measles. While Kennedy has said the measles vaccine is effective at protecting children from the disease, he also suggested in an op-ed for Fox News that improved nutrition and vitamin intake is the “best defense” against infectious illnesses.
A syringe is filled with a dose of the Johnson & Johnson Janssen Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination site inside Reuther Hall at Forty Acres on March 13, 2021, in Delano, California. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
State health officials also announced Wednesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to curtail federal funding for COVID-19 vaccinations and surveillance, further alarming health advocates who are pushing for improved public health initiatives.
“This COVID-19 rollback of funding at the federal level is just another example of how…we don’t have that kind of support at the federal level, to continue doing important innovative research that will benefit the public and the health of the public,” said Mar Velez, director of policy at the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California. “We’re happy to see that legislators in California are doing their job and setting up infrastructure that will continue to support the health of Californians.”
Funding for the bill is likely to be an obstacle moving forward. If Trump is successful in pushing forth sweeping cuts to critical state programs such as MediCaid, California could face a severe budget deficit, Wiener said, adding that state leaders are looking for ways to prepare for the worst.
“Scientific research is a crucial pillar of California’s economy and of our success, and we should never lose sight of that,” he said. “We’re all nervous. We are all scared…It’s paralyzing the level of harm that [the Trump administration] is doing. We need to all take a deep breath and focus on what we as individuals or as leaders can do.”
KQED’sSamantha Kennedy contributed to this report.