Baltimore Sun reports that Maryland is onboard with $15 million in the first year of what could become a continuing program to support stem cell research in that state. There’s an ethics evaluation, a religion checkstop and a fine little fight over whether the governor’s endorsement of the funding makes him a turncoat. Ultimately, it’s nickels and dimes compared to $3 billion in California, and that fact leads to a question: as states weigh in on their positions on stem cell research, must they play at the California level to produce a competitive advantage for their state?