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Proposition 38

Authorizes Bonds for Immunology Medical Research

On the ballot

California · November 2026 general election · Bond measure · Election day November 3, 2026
Topics: Bonds and borrowing, Health care

In plain language

Proposition 38 would authorize $8.4 billion in state general obligation bonds for research in immunology and immunotherapy — treatments that use the body's immune system to fight disease — with half of the money dedicated to cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Funds would be split evenly between a single University of California-affiliated nonprofit medical research institute and grants to public or nonprofit universities and institutions. Recipients would have to sell resulting technology and drugs in California at 20 percent below the national average price, and the General Fund would receive 10 percent of licensing royalties until the bonds are repaid.

Fiscal impact

Legislative Analyst's Office summary of the estimate of net state and local government fiscal impact: "Increased state cost of $500 million to $600 million annually for about 20 years to repay the medical research bond. The state could recover part or all of this cost in subsequent decades if the funded research leads to discoveries that generate revenue."

Summarized from the official fiscal analysis listed in the sources below. Figures are the state's, not this site's.

What supporters and opponents say

These are summaries of arguments made by the named organizations, drawn from the sources listed below. They are their claims, not this site's, and this site takes no position on the measure.

What supporters say

  • The ballot argument signed by Susan Disney Lord (Alzheimer's Los Angeles), Eugene P. Brandon (ALS Association), and Brian Shuch (Kidney Cancer Association) says immunotherapies are already treating cancers such as melanoma, lung cancer, and leukemia, and that the measure would fund research into Alzheimer's, heart disease, Parkinson's, and ALS.
  • Supporters state in the official argument that federal funding cuts are disrupting medical research at nonprofit institutes and universities, and that the measure would create a stable California-based funding source.
  • Supporters say the measure is designed to offset its own cost through a required 10 percent return of licensing revenue, a 2 percent cap on state administrative expenses, public disclosure of spending, independent financial audits, and a required 20 percent discount for California patients. The argument lists the Alzheimer's Association, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Melanoma Research Alliance among supporters.

Attributed to Alzheimer's Los Angeles, Kidney Cancer Association, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.

What opponents say

  • The ballot argument signed by Robert M. Kaplan, Ph.D., says general obligation borrowing is the wrong way to finance scientific research, because bonds suit long-lived infrastructure with predictable benefits while discoveries can take decades and many lines of investigation never produce marketable treatments.
  • The argument states that California has already created separate ballot-driven funding programs for stem cell research and precision medicine, and that research priorities should be set through scientific review and public health planning rather than election campaigns.
  • The argument questions the assumption that discoveries will generate revenue to offset state costs, noting that universities rarely commercialize therapies themselves and that private companies typically fund development, testing, and regulatory approval.

Attributed to the sources cited below.

Sources

Everything on this page traces to these sources. Follow them to read the original documents.

Last updated . How this page is sourced and corrected is described in the correction policy.