Brian Nestande | Nestande Introduces California Taxpayer Access to Publicly Funded Research Act

"Assemblyman Brian Nestande, (R-Palm Desert) introduced AB 609, a measure that will ensure the public can access the published results of taxpayer-funded research for free.  This bill will require each researcher receiving a state-funded grant to submit an electronic copy no later than six months after the work is published.  The completed work will become openly accessible, free of charge, to the public through the California State Library.   'California’s taxpayers fund this research and they have a right to expect that the results are available and accessible.  If we want California to remain at the forefront of cutting-edge discoveries and innovations, we must make sure that this information is available to those who can use and build upon this knowledge,' said Nestande.  'As taxpayers, we should not have to pay to gain access to vital research that our tax dollars paid for.'   California taxpayers invest hundreds of millions of dollars annually in research.  State research funding includes research and development by universities and state agencies, as well as efforts such as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and specific disease research programs.  The value of California’s investment is only maximized with wide use of these results.    Dr. Michael Eisen, Associate Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley stated, 'Californians are strong believers in science, evinced most recently by their approval of the $3 billion stem cell initiative.  Californians deserve full access to the fruits of the research they fund, including being able to read about the discoveries their dollars have enabled. This is why I strongly support this bill from Assemblyman Nestande, and urge all Californians to push for its rapid passage into law.'  Eisen is also an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute ..."