Senate Budget Chief Says No Money Included for Stem Cells
By The State House News Service
       The Senate budget to be released later this month will not include funding
for stem cell research, Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Sen. Therese
Murray (D-Plymouth) told the News Service Wednesday.
       "There is no money for stem cell funding in there," she said while walking back to her office after testifying at a public hearing. Advocates for stem cell research say
they hope the state will provide some funding for the research to ensure
Massachusetts can compete with states like California, which has approved a
$3 billion bond program for research there.
       Senate President Robert Travaglini has also indicated his support for funding here in Massachusetts.
       Asked whether the Senate would include outside sections, which the House has severely restricted, in its budget, Murray said: “We don't know, we're in the process of putting it together right now. I'm sure there will be some, just like there were in the House.”
       Under new House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and new House Ways and Means Chairman Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop), the House this year avoided the traditional practice of adding scores of major policy proposals to its budget proposal. Will the Senate include more outside sections than the House?
       “Now, how can I tell you that when I haven’t even put it together yet?” said Murray, who has been reluctant in recent weeks to spend time discussing issues facing the state with the press. Her aides frequently say she is too busy with meetings or on her way to meetings. The Senate budget is due out in mid-May.