Caregivers for Cures: California Caregivers Back Proposition 38

Caregivers join over 60 organizations united behind life-saving research to bring new hope for cures to families facing cancer, Alzheimer's and heart disease

SACRAMENTO, CA, UNITED STATES, September 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Today, caregivers across California endorsed YES on Proposition 38, the Immunology Medical Research & Cures Initiative, to accelerate life-saving research for their loved ones. They join a broad coalition of more than 60 patient advocacy, medical and research organizations backing the measure.

Prop 38 will provide $8.4 billion to advance immunology research to help prevent and treat cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease, and other persistent diseases. Immunotherapies harness the body's own immune system to prevent and treat diseases, and they are already successfully treating patients with melanoma, lung cancer, leukemia and lymphoma. Prop 38 will fund the next generation of this research for other devastating diseases, like Parkinson’s, diabetes, ALS, muscular dystrophy, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis.

“As a mother navigating my son's journey through leukemia treatment and now a complex, unexplained immune condition, I've seen both the promise and the gaps in immunology,” said Bhavika Taunk, a resident of Danville. “We need more treatments, more breakthroughs and more hope. Voting Yes on Prop 38 gives families like mine a fighting chance, not just against cancer, but against everything that comes after the diagnosis.”

More than 6.4 million Californians are caring for a loved one and they want one thing above all: treatment that arrives in time. Roughly 23 percent of the state’s adults are caregivers, with nearly three-quarters of those receiving no pay. The toll is real: 48 percent of California family caregivers report at least one negative financial impact, such as depleted savings or increased debt, while 59 percent balance caregiving with paid work, often at the cost of their own income and long-term security.

“When you're caring for someone you love, you don't just think about the cost, only more time,” said Viva Mogi, a Los Angeles resident and caregiver to her mother, who has Alzheimer’s. “My mother is still my mother and every day I get with her matters. What keeps me going is the hope that new treatments will come soon enough to make a real difference. Prop 38 is about giving researchers the resources to make that happen.”

Prop 38 represents a new approach to medical research funding, creating a collaborative statewide network that combines competitive research grants with a world-class immunology institute designed to help turn discoveries into life-saving treatments and cures. Half of the funding will support competitive grants at California universities and nonprofit research institutions, while the other half will support a nonprofit immunology institute affiliated with the University of California that can bring together leading scientists, technology, laboratories, patients and clinical trials.

The timing is urgent. Uncertainty in federal research funding is shutting down clinical trials and delaying discoveries at the exact moment immunology science has momentum. At least 160 active clinical trials nationwide were affected by the termination of National Institutes of Health grants in 2025. In California, universities began curtailing biomedical research and delaying hiring as federal grants were terminated or withheld.

“Every year we wait is another year families live with this weight on their shoulders,” said R. Bernard Coley, a Morgan Hill resident and care partner to his wife, who has Parkinson’s. “We need better diagnoses, more treatments and ultimately cures.”

Prop 38 is designed to pay for itself. Ten percent of all proceeds from the licensing of immunotherapies must be returned to California to offset the measure's total costs, including interest. Additionally, any cure or immunotherapy developed will be provided to California patients at a 20 percent discount below the national average. Prop 38 also includes strict accountability requirements, including:
- Two percent cap on state administrative expenses
- Public disclosure of spending
- Independent financial audits
- For-profit corporations are not eligible for grant funding

Learn more at YESon38.com, including a full coalition list and what supporters are saying.

Robin Swanson
YES on Prop 38
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