Legal battles surrounding science research funding have been ongoing between the Trump administration and the University of California system since the beginning of 2025. The Trump administration proposed reducing funding for agencies — such as the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — by roughly 40%. This move alarmed researchers at universities like UC San Diego, which receives more than $1 billion in annual research funding.
In February 2025, the Trump administration proposed another plan for funding cuts in the form of a 15% cap on Facilities and Administration and Indirect Cost Reimbursements for research grants. These funds are essential for maintaining lab spaces, utilities, and equipment.
Student labor unions across the UC system are fighting back. One of these unions is the United Auto Workers 4811 — an organization representing tens of thousands of academic researchers, graduate student workers, and medical professionals at all the UC campuses.
Though both federal plans to cut funding were ultimately rejected by Congress, Nathaniel Roethler, a UCSD Ph.D. student working in the elections committee for UAW 4811, said it still signals a worrisome future for science research.
“Do we just continue year after year the fight against Trump or do we figure out a way to just give California a way to pay for this research?” Roethler said in an interview with The UCSD Guardian.
As a solution, the UAW, UC system, and the Union of American Physicians and Dentists worked with California State Sen. Scott Wiener to draft Senate Bill 895, also known as California Science and Health Research Bond Act. If passed, the bill, officially co-sponsored by the UAW, would create a $12 billion state bond to fund vital scientific, biomedical, and climate research across California universities. The California Foundation for Science and Health Research, a new state-centered public entity, would distribute the bonds.
Whereas federal grants come from taxpayer money, the $12 billion would draw on bond interest from private investors. When an investor, such as a biotech company, buys a bond, the state government will pay the purchaser back the same amount they invested plus interest over time, depending on the duration of the loan. Thus, the funds would come entirely from state allocations and rely heavily on long-term private investment.
The proposed bill would impact research related to women’s health, HIV, cancer, and infectious and hereditary diseases, alongside UCSD undergraduates not actively involved in research.
Vikram Pal Singh, a post-doctoral fellow representing academic researchers for UAW 4811, explained to The UCSD Guardian, “I’ve had so many mentees who … don’t want to do research in their life; they just want to get a job. Even for them, they were in the lab doing something and then they were putting it on their CV. … All of this is possible only if there is funding for a lab. … It gives them exposure.”
The bond could also help maintain the educational quality of undergraduate classes by funding teaching assistant salaries.
“The only funding [graduate students] can get is through their [principal investigators or mentors] and essentially the only funding that [PIs] can get is through grants,” Roethler said. “So the impact we’ve seen is … less people are able to join labs, less admissions.”
Singh also explained that Senate Bill 895 is modeled after Proposition 14, a similar bill passed in 2020. California legislators created Proposition 14 in response to the federal government’s proposal to reduce stem cell research funding because it did not align with its political ideologies. Singh said Proposition 14 responded with the creation of a $5.5 billion bond measure for stem cell research. The measure currently funds the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Legislators aim to create a similar establishment now, but for all science research.
Singh further clarified that the proposal for SB 895 stemmed from ambiguity around federal funding.
“Because more than 80% of the [scientific] research in California is funded by NIH, if [the federal government] restructures it, then it directly impacts 80% of the people, like right away,” Singh said.
The bill passed the state Senate on Wednesday and now heads to the state assembly. If it passes the assembly and is signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the measure will officially appear on the general election ballot this November.
Singh said that UAW members have been actively meeting with senators to promote the bill and gain their support. He highlighted efforts made on Jan. 26, when a few UAW members from every UC campus traveled to Sacramento and lobbied to various legislators. During this trip, they held a science fair showcasing research projects that would be otherwise difficult to conduct under the Trump administration’s proposed funding cuts.
According to Singh, UCSD as an institution has not been playing as big of a role in promoting the bond measure as the collective effort of UAW student members. To remain politically neutral, there has not been active lobbying from people in positions of power, such as the UC Board of Regents, who can speak directly with governors and leaders.
He also expressed that, if this bill passes on the ballot this November, it “sets an example” for other states that are hubs for scientific research and innovations.
“Scientists are supposed to just be sitting in their labs, wearing their lab coats, and minding their own business and just doing research,” said Singh. “It is in this moment, finally scientists are rising up and actually raising their voice and saying that, no, we want justice.”
