Bob Klein, the Northern California developer who chaired the board of the state stem cell agency created by the 2004 ballot initiative he wrote, has announced he will step down at the end of 2010. That would mark the end of his six-year term.

Klein is a polarizing figure in California politics. And the stem cell initiative, Prop 71, remains controversial five years after it was passed. Supporters saw it as giving California a leadership role in an important area of research. Critics saw it as a financial boondoggle and an example of the ballot box budgeting that has helped put California in a fiscal hole.

John Simpson, who tracks the agency for Consumer Watchdog and broke the news of Klein's decision, has details here.

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine -- the state's stem cell agency -- was created by Prop 71, and is still governed under its rules. For more than six months, the Little Hoover Commission -- a California body that studies government structure and reform -- has been investigating CIRM, which has struggled with governance issues. (I reported on this last month in the Scientific American).

Last week, Little Hoover staff disclosed some of its preliminary recommendations for changing the agency, as reported at the California Stem Cell Report. At first blush, the proposed changes, which have not been formally released, make sense to me. Reducing the size of the board. Concentrating executive power in one official of the agency (currently, the president and the board chair share executive power). And changing the quorum rule, which often has hamstrung the agency's board.

The difficult part will be enacting such measures. It's far from clear that the board has the power, or inclination, to make these changes. Under Prop 71, making changes to the agency requires a 70 percent vote of the legislature (or another vote of the people). Neither will be easy to achieve.

In this Scientific American piece, I explain how the creation of California's stem cell agency (and its governing board) by ballot initiative both protects and constrains the pursuit of stem cell research here.

Rex Babin, cartoonist for the Sacramento Bee, offers up this take on the lack of fiscal discipline of California voters, who love to approve new, extra-budgetary spending at the ballot.