Proposition 38: Follow the money… DODGE this baby! A billionaire is pushing Prop 38.It steers $4.2 billion to one institution and California taxpayers get the bill—for 20 years! This billionaire-backed measure would require an estimated $500 million to $600 million in General Fund payments every year for roughly 20 years—putting more pressure on California’s already constrained budget!
Proposition 38 asks California to borrow $8.4 BILLION for cancer and immunotherapy research. Half of it is written to land in one dead shopping mall. Not a metaphor. An actual mall, on Pico, with twelve movie screens still in it. Here's the proof. ❓ WHAT IS CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 38? A general obligation bond. The state borrows $8.4 billion for immunology and immunotherapy research. Repayment comes out of the General Fund — $500 to $600 million a year for 20 years, per the Legislative Analyst's Office. Cure or no cure. ❓ WHO GETS THE $4.2 BILLION? The measure never names anyone. It writes a list of requirements instead: nonprofit founded before 2025, affiliated with a UC campus, 200,000 SQUARE FEET of research space, $250 million already banked in donations, two separate $50 million gifts, and a hospital partner seeing 3.5 million patients a year. Exactly one organization in California qualifies — the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA. UCLA's own spokesperson confirmed it to CalMatters. ❓ WHERE IS IT? The old Westside Pavilion on Pico — now the UCLA Research Park. 700,000 square feet of retail. ❓ WHO PAID TO PUT IT ON THE BALLOT? Institute board chair Dr. Gary Michelson put in $8.2 million. Co-founder Meyer Luskin added $5 million. Thirteen million dollars for YES. Zero dollars against. And California had already handed the institute $200 million out of the budget before a single vote was cast. On their own promo video the founding donors are read aloud: Gavin Newsom and the State of California, Sean Parker, and Michael Milken. ❓ HAVE WE DONE THIS BEFORE? 2004, Prop 71 — $3 billion for stem cell research on the identical promise that patents would pay us back. In 2020 we doubled it. Nine billion borrowed, about $25 billion with interest. California taxpayers have gotten back $350,000. Three cents on the thousand. ❓ CARL DeMAIO SAYS YES. WHY ARE YOU A NO? First time all ballot we've split. His voter guide says repayment comes "from proceeds of cures and treatments." The state's own analyst says it comes out of the General Fund. General obligation bond — full faith and credit of the State of California. That's you. ❓ WHAT DOES IT COST MY HOUSEHOLD? About $815. That's my arithmetic — roughly $11 billion across about 13.5 million households, both numbers on screen so you can check me. I'm voting NO on Proposition 38. ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 The job posting nobody was supposed to read 1:04 What Prop 38 actually is — $8.4 billion, borrowed 2:05 Carl DeMaio says yes. I say no. 2:30 The want ad — every requirement, one at a time 3:21 There is a square footage requirement in the law 3:59 One UC campus qualifies. Guess which one. 4:25 Breitbart: only one institute in California can win it 4:55 The donor list — Newsom, Sean Parker, Michael Milken 5:57 Dr. Gary Michelson, the man behind the institute 6:53 $13 million to write it. $200 million already paid. 7:33 "The institute holds the IP" 8:31 We did this in 2004 — Prop 71 and stem cell research 9:31 $25 billion out. $350,000 back. 10:52 Three cents on the thousand 11:12 The exact sentence Carl and I split on 12:07 It's a general obligation bond. That means you. 13:34 Your kitchen table — $815 14:38 "Public-private partnership" is his phrase, not mine 15:06 What we all learned between 2020 and 2022 16:08 California isn't buying anything. It's speculating. 17:20 $13 million to pass it. Zero dollars against it. 18:01 Their best argument, straight — the NIH cuts 18:40 Why does he need $815 of yours? 🧾 THE RECEIPTS • Legislative Analyst's Office, Prop 38 analysis — lao.ca.gov • CalMatters, July 31 2026 — "Is this proposition a $4 billion giveaway to a billionaire-backed LA research center?" • UCLA Newsroom — "UCLA acquires L.A.'s former Westside Pavilion to transform empty mall into the UCLA Research Park" • Phil Hampton, UCLA spokesperson — only CIII meets the criteria • Robert Kaplan, former Associate Director, N.I.H. • Will Swaim, California Policy Center, on California Insider • Joel Pollak, Breitbart News, via California Post • Carl DeMaio / Reform California voter guide — reformcalifornia.org • ATOM Forum LA 2026 — Michelson, Belldegrun, Esrailian on camera • calimmunology.org · vote.ca.gov — read it yourself 📋 FAIR AND SQUARE The federal research scare was real — a 40% NIH cut was proposed for FY2026. Congress rejected it and raised NIH funding instead. Dr. Michelson gave $120 million of his own money to found the institute, and I say so on camera. There is no allegation of wrongdoing against him or anyone named here — the structure is what I'm arguing with, not the men. Milken's 1990 conviction is a matter of record; he was pardoned in 2020. Stem cell royalties can arrive decades out. Don't take my word for it. The booklet's in your mailbox. 💬 Would you put $815 into a mall?