In April 2007, Governor Eliot Spitzer and the New York State Legislature, under the urging of Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, authorized the creation of the Empire State Stem Cell Board (ESSCB). The ESSCB received $100 million in its first year of operation and the promise of $50 million more per year for the subsequent ten years. The purpose of this eleven year $600 million investment was to fund stem cell research.
