LANSING – Between the economic incentives for supporters and the religious fervor of opponents, Proposal 2008-2 to expand embryonic stem cell research has attracted the most cash to its battle among the two ballot issues, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday.

Total spending on the proposal could top $10 million as the two sides battle the propriety of the constitutional amendment. In contrast, spending for the initiated legislation to allow certain legal uses of marijuana (Proposal 2008-1) is unlikely to top $2 million.

As expected, the proponents of Proposal 2008-2, CureMichigan, brought in the most money, but they also attracted less charitable donors than the opposition.

The group raised $6,297,892 and had another $139,467 in in-kind assistance. But of its total, $3.37 million was debt. The A. Alfred Taubman Restated Trust contributed $3.13 million to the effort, but expected those funds to be repaid at some point. Other debt represented various goods and services provided on credit.

William Parfet, CEO of MPI Research and former president of Upjohn, kicked in another $1 million that he did not ask be returned.

Other large donors included the Richard A. Manoogian Trust with $400,000 and that Michigan Democratic Party 21st Century Fund at $200,000. Jon Stryker also donated $100,000.

Michigan Citizens Against Unrestricted Science and Experimentation, the opposition group, appeared primarily a creature of the Michigan Catholic Conference. Of the $3.77 million the group raised, $2.79 million came from the church. Right to Life of Michigan added $293,267 to the pot.

Former gubernatorial candidate Dick Devos was among the largest individual donors, in for $200,000.

Though MiCAUSE did not bring in as much money, it attracted more donors. Overall, the committee had 2,343 separate donations, though some of those were from the same contributor.

CureMichigan had only 169 separate checks, again with some duplicate donors.

Among the debts still owed by the MiCAUSE was $90,000 for tracking polls by Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria, Virginia, $51,504 to Hanon McKendry of Grand Rapids for advertising work and consulting, and $27,229 to Marketing Resource Group for public relations work.

STEM CELL SUPPORTERS: CureMichigan also unveiled a new TV ad Friday highlighting its various supporters.

Among the groups lending their voice to Proposal 2008-2 are the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, the Michigan Nurses Association, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Parkinson’s Action Network, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American Diabetes Association and the American Association for Cancer Research.

“It’s an honor to win the support of these widely recognized and respected groups,” said Chris De Witt, spokesperson for CureMichigan, the campaign committee supporting the proposal. “We are proud to advance the quest for cures here in Michigan and believe voters will validate our efforts on Election Day.”

While the groups made positive statements about the proposal for the ad, none contributed money to the campaign effort.

But CureMichigan still has the money advantage going into the final days of the campaign. The group reported $361,614 cash on hand, compared to $118,062 for MiCAUSE.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Again, the proponents raised the most money with $1.51 million and $254,719 in in-kind assistance. And the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care was far ahead of Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Kids in ready funds for the final stretch with $235,467 cash remaining.

Nearly all the money for the effort came from the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., though the group did attract some individual donations. Among the notables were A. Alfred Taubman (the executive, not the foundation), who donated $200, and Gregory Schmid, the Saginaw attorney who has been involved in prior efforts to legalize cannabis, who gave $150.

Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Kids brought in less than a tenth of the proponents’ funding: $125,500. The lion’s share of the group’s funding, $100,000, came from the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. A Florida group, Save Our Society From Drugs, gave $15,000 and former gubernatorial candidate Mr. DeVos kicked in $10,000.

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