First Prop 2, and now Obama, too. Today, the president announced that his administration will be overturning the backwards policies of his predecessor by lifting bans on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. (In 2001, George W. Bush signed a directive, banning federal funding for the study of stem cells created after the date of the signing, according to a story by the Free Press).

This announcement could not have come at a better time. In January, we saw our great state’s unemployment rate hit a staggering 11.6% - the highest it’s been in 25 years. After lifting the statewide ban on embryonic stem cell research in November and now, with movements at the federal level, Michigan could see a healthy amount of jobs created for our workforce in the medical researching fields.

Put quite simply, presidential approval translates to big bucks. Meaning that, after voters overwhelmingly affirmed Proposal 2 last November, Michigan will now be literally able to put our money where our mouth is, and gain even more funding for this innovative research that we would have been able to just with the passage of Prop 2. Instead of remaining in the intellectual dark ages – up until the passage of Prop 2, Michigan was one of only four states that still upheld a ban on embryonic stem cell research – Michigan is now entitled to a tasty slice of the federal money pie. Dollars by the barrelful look to pour in from the feds – money that will allow scientific researchers in Michigan to develop cutting-edge technology and breakthrough on cures for debilitating, degenerative diseases like juvenile diabetes, cancer, Parkinson’s, and Lou Gehrig’s.

Good news, indeed. Great news, even. It’s about time that our workforce was thrown a significant helping hand for all that we’ve had to endure. And it’s about time that Michigan’s patients and their families had a leader – and a future – they could all believe in.