MLive: Senate panel to U-M: Thumbing nose at legislature could come at a price

By Cindy Heflin Associate news director

Posted on Fri, Apr 20, 2012 : 6:33 a.m.

A Michigan Senate panel Thursday linked nearly $5 million in aid for the University of Michigan to compliance with reporting rules for embryonic stem cell research, MLive reported.

Mary Sue Coleman.

State Rep. Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant, said the school was supposed to provide answers to five questions about the use of human embryonic stem cells - numbers he said could be provided on one sheet. But the university instead sent a cover letter with 50 pages of copied newspaper articles.

“The university is thumbing its nose at the Legislature,” he said.

Members of the state House Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education grilled U-M President Mary Sue Coleman last month on stem cell research.