New Jersey voters will be asked in November to approve a plan to borrow $450-million for stem-cell research, under an agreement between legislative leaders and Gov. Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat.

If approved by voters, the program would award grants to universities, state- and local-government agencies, and other groups that conduct scientific and medical research on both adult and embryonic stem cells and umbilical-cord blood, according to the Associated Press.

New Jersey, which already has approved initial funds to build a $150-million institute for stem-cell research, is the latest state bidding to become a major force in this area. Gov. Deval L. Patrick of Massachusetts has called for his state to commit $1-billion over the next decade to life-sciences research, including the creation of a stem-cell bank. Meanwhile, as part of a budget passed earlier this year, New York lawmakers established a $600-million trust fund for stem-cell research. And California voters in 2004 dedicated the greatest amount to such efforts, $3-billion, a plan upheld last month by the state’s Supreme Court.

The state efforts are in response to a policy, put in place by President Bush in 2001, that limits federal-government financing to studies that use stem cells from colonies, or lines, that existed at the time. —Karin Fischer