The bid to secure state funding for UC Riversides Medical School took another step forward this week when a proposal to provide $15 million in ongoing funding was placed in the state budget, according to Riverside's representatives in Sacramento.

The line item for the funding passed an Assembly's Budget Subcommittee late Wednesday, May 22, and a Senate Budget Subcommittee on Thursday morning, according to a press release issued Thursday afternoon by state Sen. Richard Roth and Assemblyman Jose Medina, both D-Riverside.

Those moves mean the medical school funding is progressing toward the final version of the budget going to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature.

The Inland Southern California region continues to be identified as having the most severe shortage of primary care doctors in all of the United States, Roth said in the release.

This is a big step forward for the people of our region who have waited too long for the basic healthcare services they need.

Placing the UC Riverside Medical School into the budget is a critical step forward, Medina said in the release. We have waited far too long to ensure our regions families have access to meet their healthcare needs. We are facing a crisis today and that will get much worse as the demand for healthcare professionals increases with the implementation of the national Affordable Care Act.

The governor has previously declined to include state funding for the school, which is scheduled to open this fall.

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UCR MEDICAL SCHOOL: Funding heading to state budget, lawmakers say