Urgent: California AIDS Research Initiative Needs Help

Persons living anywhere can help make available $180 million additional money for AIDS research. But you must act in the next four weeks.
The AIDS Tax Credit Initiative will allow a California tax credit of up to $25. per year for contributions to a new state
AIDS-research fund ($5000. each for corporations, trusts, and estates). Virtually certain to pass in November if it gets on
the ballot, this initiative is expected to raise $180,000,000 for AIDS research over the next three years. The money will be
especially valuable because California law allows researchers to bypass the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and obtain state approval instead. (See "Why AIDS Treatment Delay?", below.)
Although the initiative applies only to California taxpayers and finances research within this state, the knowledge and treatments developed will of course benefit people everywhere. Persons with other diseases will benefit too, since new understanding of the immune system promises treatment breakthroughs against many other conditions.
The problem is that to get on the ballot, the AIDS Tax Credit Initiative needs over 400,000 valid signatures of
registered voters before May 20--less than five weeks away--and it has less than half of them so far. To get the rest in time, the campaign for the initiative must use paid petition circulators. It must raise $300,000 within the next four weeks
to have a comfortable margin.
This AIDS tax credit proposal passed both houses of the California legislature unanimously--but Governor George
Deukmejian vetoed it, and Republican legislators refused to help override the Republican governor's veto. Legislation to place the measure on the ballot has been stalled, making the signature campaign necessary. Lack of $300,000 now will lose $180,000,000 for AIDS research.
People anywhere can contribute money to this campaign, and share the benefit. California voters can also help by
collecting signatures. If you can help in any way, please contact either office below immediately.

Northern California: AIDS Initiative Committee
10 United Nations Plaza, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 621-6164

Southern California: AIDS Initiative Committee
8235 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 306
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(213) 654-9094

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