Proposition 38 authorizes $8.4 billion in California general-obligation bonds for immunology and immunotherapy research. Half would go to a UC-affiliated nonprofit research institute chosen under specified criteria and half to grants for public or nonprofit universities and institutions. Half of research funding must support cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s research. Recipients would also face a California pricing requirement for resulting technologies and drugs. State analysts estimate about $500 million annually for 25 years in debt-service costs, with uncertain potential future revenue from discoveries. Public research can fund ideas private investors neglect, especially when discoveries have broad social value. But billions in bonded debt should have a clear reason to outperform ordinary competitive research grants funded through annual budgets.