State Treasurer Confirms Possible Delay in Stem Cell Bond Sales

California state Treasurer Bill Lockyer has confirmed that there is a reasonable possibility that the California stem cell agency will not be able to access new funds until sometime next year.

In a report in the Los Angeles Times yesterday, Lockyer said that sale of all state bonds could be delayed because of inaction on California's state budget woes. State bonds are the only real funding source for CIRM's $3 billion effort.

On Wednesday, the California Stem Cell Report discussed the likelhood of continued delays of state bond sales and the impact on CIRM.

The following day Tom Petruno of the Times reported,

"Without a balanced-budget deal in hand, however, Lockyer would be unlikely to try to sell bonds before the election, his office says. Even if the measure passed in November, it isn’t clear whether there would be enough time to get a deal together before the end of the year, said Tom Dresslar, Lockyer’s spokesman."