Deval Patrick funding stem cell research

It's a good start

Scientists praised Governor Deval Patrick's proposed $1 billion investment in the state's life sciences industry yesterday as an important way to offset stagnant funding from the federal government and its limits on paying for research involving human embryonic stem cells. They said that the Patrick plan is a necessary response to competition from other states that have made substantial investments in science, threatening the reputation of Massachusetts as a national leader. [...]

Interstate competition was far less important in the late 1990s when federal funding for biomedical research at the National Institutes for Health was in the middle of a five-year doubling that ended in 2003.
Since that time, NIH funding has been frozen, resulting in a 13 percent reduction in buying power because of inflation.
For Massachusetts, one of the leading recipients of NIH money, the erosion of support has been particularly painful. Even established scientists have not had their projects funded or have had their grants cut sharply.

We'll still need to increase NIH funding to stop the bleed that has lead to 10% cuts (!!!) of the moneys promised from grants already funded.