California just voted to give two billionaires $4 billion in taxpayer money so they can do obscure research

California voters have approved a eyebrow-raising ballot measure to support medical research that will send more than $4 billion in taxpayer money to a nonprofit founded by a pair of billionaires.Proposition 38 — dubbed “the worst California proposition” by a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle — officially passed with more than 54% support and 83% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press.“The measure will fund a statewide network of researchers, universities and nonprofit institutions working to advance immunology discoveries and turn promising science into life-saving treatments,” the Yes on 38 campaign said in a statement Monday.“Its passage comes as federal research funding cuts have disrupted clinical trials and delayed medical discoveries nationwide.”The low-profile ballot measure, which will authorize the state to sell $8.4 billion in bonds to fund medical research at state institutes and universities, has turned some heads.Half of the money will be directed to a single nonprofit immunology research institute affiliated with the University of California, with the remaining funds distributed through competitive grants to public and nonprofit research institutions.That UC institute getting half the cash is the yet-open California Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy at University of California, Los Angeles, co-founded by philanthropist and medical inventor Gary Michelson businessman Meyer Luskin.The billionaires launched the institute and Michelson was the primary backer of Prop 38, contributing more than $65 million to the campaign, the Sacramento Bee reported.That sparked criticism from opponents, who accused Michelson of funneling taxpayer money to his own organization, which is reportedly is still understaffed.“Something stinks about two billionaires getting taxpayers to pay for their pet project, especially when the measure doesn’t disclose that,” Consumer Watchdog wrote in its endorsement picks of California...