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A General Assembly budget conference committee started discussions Monday to seek a resolution on how much to allocate for stem cell research grants in fiscal 2011, with the House and Senate versions on the legislation far apart.

The House's version that passed Friday recommends $12.4 million, the same amount recommended by the administration of Gov. Martin O'Malley (D). The Senate wants to cut that to $6.2 million.

Officials with the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund, which is administered by the Maryland Technology Development Corp., said they are not speculating on budget decisions. But they made their case for the full funding. The General Assembly's regular session ends April 12.

Dan Gincel, director of the fund, said in a statement supplied by a spokeswoman Monday that he hopes O'Malley's original allocation for stem cell research remains intact.

"It fuels economic development and job creation in the state of Maryland and keeps the momentum moving forward for stem cell research in Maryland," Gincel said. 

The House also wants to add $1 million to the state Tourism Development Board that the Senate seeks to cut.

Going into the final week of the session, not many bills have passed both chambers. Only 43 bills and three resolutions have been approved by both the House and Senate as of mid-Monday afternoon out of more than 2,700 introduced in either chamber.

Among those are three that have already been signed by O'Malley and become effective — to boost Maryland's ailing unemployment insurance trust fund, give businesses that hire unemployed workers a $5,000 tax credit and repeal a prohibition against vehicle manufacturers awarding bonuses of more than $200 to dealers.

Another passed by both chambers would speed the progress of a state commission reviewing business tax issues such as combined reporting. The legislation would change the due date for the final report of the Maryland Business Tax Reform Commission from Dec. 15, 2011, to this Dec. 15. That panel was established during the 2007 special session to submit an interim report by Dec. 15 and a final report the following year.