Chris Brassell assesses donor cells in 2020 at the immunology lab at Vir Biotech in San Francisco. Prop 38 would authorize California to issue $8.4 billion in bonds to fund immunology and immunotherapy research.

As cancer survivors, we both know the fear that follows a diagnosis, the hope invested in every treatment and the gratitude you feel toward the scientists and physicians whose work gives patients more time.

To us and the millions of patients who have had to face the uncertainty of living with cancer, medical research is not an abstract policy question. It is personal.

As a result, Proposition 38, which would authorize California to borrow $8.4 billion for immunology and immunotherapy research, might seem like something that the two of us would readily support. But because of how the proposition is crafted, and with research dollars in short supply, we’ll both be voting “no,” even though we represent opposing sides of the political spectrum.

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Taxpayers would make payments of $500 million annually for roughly 25 years on Prop 38’s borrowing, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. That money comes from the same California budget General Fund that pays for schools, healthcare, wildfire response and other essential services.

Proponents suggest that discoveries resulting from the research could generate enough revenue to offset the state’s costs. As cancer........

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