BILL NUMBER: AB 34 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 516
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 11, 2007
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 11, 2007
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 10, 2007
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 11, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 4, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 17, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 10, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 18, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 22, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 13, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Portantino
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Leno)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Beall, Berg, De Leon, Dymally, Eng,
Garcia, Hancock, Horton, Huffman, Jeffries, Lieu, Mullin, Nakanishi,
and Wolk)
(Coauthor: Senator Romero)
DECEMBER 4, 2006
An act to add and repeal Article 8 (commencing with Section 1627)
of Chapter 4 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to
umbilical cord blood banking.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 34, Portantino. Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program.
Existing law, administered by the State Department of Public
Health, contains provisions governing the licensure of blood banks,
including provisions relating to licensure for purposes of umbilical
cord blood banking storage services. Existing law also requires the
department to conduct the Umbilical Cord Blood Community Awareness
Campaign.
This bill would require the department to establish, by January 1,
2010, and until January 1, 2015, the Umbilical Cord Blood Collection
Program for the purpose of increasing the amount of umbilical cord
blood that is donated in the state and that will be added to the
national inventory. The bill would authorize the department, to the
extent private or public funds are identified for this purpose, to
contract with blood banks that are licensed or accredited to provide
umbilical cord blood banking storage services, for the purpose of
collecting and storing umbilical cord blood.
The bill would require that any funds available for purposes of
the program be deposited into the Umbilical Cord Blood Collection
Program Fund, which this bill would create. The bill would require
that the moneys in the fund be available for expenditure, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for that purpose. The bill would
also require that information collected pursuant to the program be
confidential, and be used solely for the purposes of the program, as
prescribed.
The bill would provide that its provisions shall only become
operative if SB 962 of the 2007-08 Regular Session is enacted and
becomes operative.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) (1) The blood left in the umbilical cord after a baby has been
delivered is a rich source of stem cells known as Hematopoietic
progenitor cells (HPCs) that can be used for transplants for over 70
conditions. These disorders and diseases include all of the
following:
(A) Blood cancers such as leukemia, myeloma, and lymphoma.
(B) Immunodeficiencies and genetic diseases, including sickle cell
anemia, thalassemia, inherited marrow failure disorders.
(C) Inherited disorders or errors of metabolisms.
(2) Research is underway to study how HPCs can be applied to
additional conditions. While stem cells from bone marrow have
typically been used for stem cell transplants, umbilical cord blood
stem cells have significant advantages over bone marrow.
(b) Umbilical cord blood is typically discarded after a birth. In
the last two decades, since determining the viability of using this
blood as a source for stem cell transplants, umbilical cord blood
began to be banked for future use. Major authorities on the subject,
including the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, the
American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists, have stated that the most effective
use of umbilical cord blood is to publicly bank this blood so that it
can be entered in a national registry, such as the National Marrow
Donor Program, to be available for anyone in need.
(c) Efforts are already under way to increase our national
inventory. As of 2007, over 50,000 usable units of umbilical cord
blood are in registered inventories. The Institute of Medicine of the
National Academies published a roadmap in 2005 to building the
inventory, "Cord Blood - Establishing a National Hematopoietic Stem
Cell Bank Program" calling for an increase in both the size and the
genetic diversity of our inventory. If the inventory is genetically
diverse, based on racial and ethnic backgrounds, an inventory with as
few as 300,000 units could match almost all in need. With more than
550,000 births a year in California, 300,000 units should not be an
insurmountable goal.
(d) Federal legislation (H.R. 2520 - 2005) was enacted to support
these efforts. Grants were authorized to six entities, including one
bank in California, to build the national inventory with a goal of
obtaining an additional 150,000 units. It is the intent of this
Legislature to enhance national efforts by adding an increased number
of units from California. The more the inventory mirrors the genetic
makeup of our state's population, the greater the chance our
citizens will find a match when they are in need. Every year tens of
thousands of Californians needlessly suffer and die from lack of stem
cell transplants due to failure to obtain a tissue match.
(e) The greatest challenge is not a lack of potential supply of
umbilical cord blood, but rather determining which blood is needed to
diversify the inventory and how to target those populations. In
2006, the Institute of Medicine cited a cost of $1,500 to collect,
test, and store each unit, and of $500 per collected, but ultimately
discarded, unit. Discarded units can be used for research on other
potential uses. Collections must be strategic and selective, as there
is limited banking capacity, and not everyone who wants to donate
will be able to donate.
(f) As part of each contract or grant, the bank shall demonstrate
plans to target populations for education and awareness about public
banking of umbilical cord blood.
SEC. 2. Article 8 (commencing with Section 1627) is added to
Chapter 4 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
Article 8. Umbilical Cord Blood Program
1627. (a) On or before January 1, 2010, the State Department of
Public Health shall establish the Umbilical Cord Blood Collection
Program for the purpose of increasing the inventory of umbilical cord
blood donated from Californians which will be part of the national
umbilical cord blood inventory. Units collected shall be entered into
a national registry and made available to the public for purposes of
human stem cell transplant. Units collected but unusable for
transplant may be made available for research to further the
understanding of the use of umbilical cord blood as tissue to treat
human diseases.
(b) When umbilical cord blood is used for research, research
protocols shall be approved by the Committee for the Protection of
Human Subjects or an institutional review board, as defined in
subdivision (e) of Section 125330.
(c) All blood collected for either transplant or research shall
follow all applicable law and guidelines applicable to donor
confidentiality and security of donor information. All information
collected shall be confidential and shall be used solely for the
purposes of the program.
1628. (a) To the extent public or private funds or grants are
identified and secured for these purposes, the Umbilical Cord Blood
Collection Program may identify and provide funds for grants or
contracts with qualified umbilical cord blood banks, licensed or
accredited pursuant to Section 1604.6, for the purposes of collecting
and storing genetically diverse umbilical cord blood for public
transplantation purposes.
(b) No state funds, unless specifically appropriated for this
purpose, shall be used for implementation of this section. Any funds
made available for purposes of this article shall be deposited into
the Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program Fund, which is hereby
created in the General Fund. Moneys in the fund shall be available,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of this article.
The fund shall include any federal, state, and private funds made
available for purposes of the program, and, notwithstanding Section
16305.7 of the Government Code, any interest earned on moneys in the
fund.
1629. In implementing the program, the department shall make
every effort to avoid duplication or conflicts with existing and
ongoing programs and to leverage existing resources.
1630. This article shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 3. This act shall only become operative if Senate Bill 962 of
the 2007-08 Regular Session, is enacted and becomes operative.