Presidential candidate Donald Trump shakes hands with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a campaign rally in October 2024. Kennedy, who is skeptical of vaccines, is among Trump's advisers on health. California leaders are advocating for a state agency dedicated to scientific research and vaccine access as the Trump administration slashes federal public health research funding. (Alex Brandon/AP)
California leaders are pushing for the creation of a state agency for scientific research and vaccine accessibility as the Trump administration continues implementing sweeping cuts to federal funding for public health research.
The bill, introduced by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, on Thursday, would create the California Institute for Scientific Research, a new state agency funding grants and loans to organizations that have traditionally relied on the National Institutes of Health.
The proposal also seeks to bolster the state’s vaccine infrastructure amid a climate of vaccine skepticism promoted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others in government.
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Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency “are taking a wrecking ball to federal scientific research, and they’re taking a wrecking ball to American leadership,” Wiener told KQED. “If the federal government is going to step back from science leadership, let’s make sure that California is the world leader.”
In February, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s plans to drastically reduce NIH funding for scientific research after a lawsuit was filed by a coalition of more than two dozen states. The preliminary injunction was extended earlier this month after Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell declared the cuts unsupported by any constitutional authority.
Sen. Scott Wiener speaks during a press conference in Union Square, San Francisco, on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)
Despite the judge’s order, some research funding freezes have continued unobstructed through the Trump administration’s use of procedural loopholes prohibiting health officials from giving public notice of grant review meetings, a required step before funding can be disbursed.
Last year, the NIH — the largest research funding institution in the world — allocated over $30 billion in grants to research projects. The University of California system said it received roughly $2.6 billion in NIH research funding. Wiener said cuts, including those to research that touches on diversity, equity and inclusion, would be a major setback for scientific development.
“In California, we should be supporting scientific research around diverse communities,” said Wiener, who is widely thought to be a contender for Sen. Nancy Pelosi’s House seat in the midterms. “But to be clear, what Trump and Musk are doing is way broader than that. They’re upending all scientific research, DEI and otherwise, and so we need to do what we can to enhance our science research capacity here in California.”
The California Institute of Scientific Research would fill the void caused by federal funding cuts, Wiener said. The agency would support state institutions and researchers conducting studies in areas including, but not limited to, biomedicine, climate, coastal and marine ecosystems and disease prevention.
The bill would also direct CalRX, a state program that produces and distributes prescription drugs such as generic insulin, to partner with other agencies to improve vaccine accessibility for Californians.
California’s local public health departments are already reckoning with a measles outbreak, with over 300 confirmed measles cases this year. Many experts are attributing the rise in infections to lower vaccination rates in school-age children.
Kennedy and other health officials have already begun proposing alternatives to traditional vaccinations when it comes to dealing with diseases such as measles. While Kennedy has said the measles vaccine is effective at protecting children from the disease, he also suggested in an op-ed for Fox News that improved nutrition and vitamin intake is the “best defense” against infectious illnesses.
A syringe is filled with a dose of the Johnson & Johnson Janssen COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site inside Reuther Hall at Forty Acres on March 13, 2021, in Delano, California. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
State health officials also announced Wednesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to curtail federal funding for COVID-19 vaccinations and surveillance, further alarming health advocates who are pushing for improved public health initiatives.
“This COVID-19 rollback of funding at the federal level is just another example of how…we don’t have that kind of support at the federal level, to continue doing important innovative research that will benefit the public and the health of the public,” said Mar Velez, director of policy at the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California. “We’re happy to see that legislators in California are doing their job and setting up infrastructure that will continue to support the health of Californians.”
Funding for the bill is likely to be an obstacle moving forward. If Trump is successful in pushing forth sweeping cuts to critical state programs such as MediCaid, California could face a severe budget deficit, Wiener said, adding that state leaders are looking for ways to prepare for the worst.
“Scientific research is a crucial pillar of California’s economy and of our success, and we should never lose sight of that,” he said. “We’re all nervous. We are all scared…It’s paralyzing the level of harm that [the Trump administration] is doing. We need to all take a deep breath and focus on what we as individuals or as leaders can do.”
