California voters appeared poised Wednesday to approve an $8.4 billion medical research bond that could direct half the proceeds to a nonprofit co-founded by the billionaire who wrote the measure and financed most of its campaign. Proposition 38 had 55.5 percent support Wednesday evening, with about 61 percent of the vote counted, according to Associated Press returns.
The measure gives the California Department of Public Health authority to select the University of California-affiliated research institute that would receive $4.2 billion. CalMatters found that only one organization currently meets the criteria. The California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy is affiliated with UCLA and was co-founded by Gary K. Michelson, the billionaire surgeon and inventor who wrote Proposition 38.
Something feels a bit iffy about California prop 38.
Doing a popular vote proposed by a 3 person non-profit that gives said non profit $4.2B from the public!
I hope Gary is great and knows how to spend $4.2B well because it’s done. pic.twitter.com/iwEEF4qgOy
— immad (@immad) November 4, 2026
The institute’s 2024 agreement with UCLA called for it to hire about 51 people by the summer of 2025, including five scientists to lead research laboratories. At a September meeting of the University of California regents, UCLA Health CEO John Mazziotta said the institute had hired three people. Its staff consisted of a chief operating officer, a general counsel, and a scientific adviser.
Prop 38 is so funny because it was written the way term sheets are written to have second tranches activate on very specific conditions that they know will hit pic.twitter.com/kfKGxFBxuY
— Kevin Kwok (@kevinakwok) November 4, 2026
The other $4.2 billion would go toward competitive grants. A council representing California universities and nonprofit research institutions would set research priorities and award grants to its member organizations. Across both halves of the program, at least $4.2 billion would have to support research on cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, according to the state Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Supporters argued that state funding would help scientists continue research and clinical trials disrupted by uncertainty over federal grants. Michelson provided most of the funding for the Yes campaign, which raised about $71 million and ran ads featuring cancer survivors. Opponents raised about $12,000 and had no advertising budget, KQED reported.
Researchers and retired state fiscal analysts who opposed the measure questioned why California would reserve half the money for one institute while its laboratory was still under construction. They also objected to provisions exempting the nonprofit from state requirements to hold open meetings and respond to public records requests. The institute would still have to publish annual reports and undergo independent financial audits.
Investor and entrepreneur Immad Akhund raised a similar objection as the returns came in. “Something feels a bit iffy about California prop 38,” he wrote in a social media post. “Doing a popular vote proposed by a 3 person non-profit that gives said non profit $4.2B from the public!”
Repaying the bonds would cost California’s general fund an estimated $500 million to $600 million a year for about 20 years. If the research produces commercial treatments, the state would receive 10 percent of licensing royalties toward repayment. Drugs and technologies developed through the program would generally have to be offered in California at prices 20 percent below the national average, according to the official voter guide.
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