ADVISORY: UAW President Shawn Fain, UC President James B. Milliken to Rally with Senator Wiener in Support of CA Science Bond To Counter Federal Cuts To Life-Saving Research

Federal cuts put billions in annual funding in the crosshairs for the University of California alone, jeopardizing progress on treatments for severe health conditions and life-saving wildfire research.

Sacramento, CA – Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) will join thousands of Californians to rally on Monday, May 4 in Sacramento in support of Senate Bill 895 (D-Wiener), which if passed and signed by Gov. Newsom would advance a 2026 ballot measure to restore funding to a broad range of life-saving scientific research. The funding will come with groundbreaking requirements to return funds generated by inventions to Californians. The UAW represents more than 60,000 academic workers and researchers across the UC system who power the university’s educational and research mission. 

Who: Senator Scott Wiener, UAW President Shawn Fain, UC President James B. Milliken, patient advocate Ryan Manriquez, Dr. Monica Gandhi and more.

What: Rally and Press Conference to highlight Senate Bill 895

When: Rally at Noon, Press Conference at 12:30pm

Where: Rose Garden on the Capitol Grounds (map and parking) (RSVP to Bergen Kenny, bergen@brightlinecomms.com) 

Livestream available here.

Senator Scott Wiener (D-SF) and Assemblymember José Luis Solache, Jr. (D-Lynwood) introduced Senate Bill 895 to place the measure on the November 2026 ballot. More than 45 legislators have signed on as co-authors, including Senators Becker, Caballero, Cortese, Durazo, McNerney (PhD), Padilla, Reyes, Richardson, and Weber Pierson (MD), and Assemblymembers Addis, Ahrens, Bennet, Caloza, Connolly, Carillo, Garcia, Garcia, Gonzalez, Haney, Harabedian, Hoover, Ortega, Petrie Norris, Celeste Rodriguez, Stefani, Wallis, Ward, and Zbur.

The measure is in response to the Trump administration’s cancellation of billions of dollars of scientific research funding, which has shuttered labs working on treatments and cures for the most devastating diseases we face. At UCLA alone, federal administrators suspended nearly $584 million in funding for research and are demanding a $1 billion payment - a demand Governor Newsom called extortion.

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