More than two years after it was approved by voters, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has announced its first grants for human-embryonic-stem-cell research.

The 72 grants, to some 20 state universities and nonprofit research laboratories, are worth a total of nearly $45-million — more than the federal government spends on the controversial research, according to the Associated Press. The Bush administration has limited federal support for stem-cell research to about $25-million annually, the news agency said. The administration also limits the cells that can be used in federally supported studies, a policy that has withstood challenges in Congress.

The California institute, which won state voters’ approval in November 2004, faces litigation over its ability to sell bonds. It drew on a $150-million state loan to issue the grants, announced on Friday. It had previously issued grants worth about $12-million for training, but Friday’s were the first for stem-cell studies. Stanford University researchers were the biggest winners, landing 12 grants worth a combined $8-million, including the first publicly financed human-embryo-cloning project.