BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1931
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
William W. Monning, Chair
AB 1931 (Torrico) - As Introduced: February 17, 2010
SUBJECT : Injury prevention.
SUMMARY : Delays the repeal date for the Spinal Cord Research
Program (Roman Reed Program) and the Spinal Cord Injury Research
Fund (Fund) from January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2016.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of
1999 (Act) effective September 27, 2000.
2)Establishes the Fund which consists of moneys accepted by the
University of California (UC) from private grants and
donations and public moneys transferred to the Fund. Requires
all moneys to remain in the Fund at the end of the fiscal year
and not revert to the General Fund.
3)Continuously appropriates deposited moneys to UC.
4)Requires funds expended under the Act to be utilized for the
award of grants to perform spinal injury research projects,
subject to scientific guidelines and rules established by UC.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the author, California is
home to approximately 646,000 people living with paralysis
from various neurologic conditions. The author states that by
extending the funding for the Roman Reed Program for an
additional five years, this research will make an enormous
contribution to those suffering from spinal cord injury
paralysis and will continue to bring new scientific
breakthroughs, jobs, and revenue to California. The author
states that, unfortunately, the Fund and all of the research
and fiscal leverage it provides is set to expire at the end of
this year.
AB 1931
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The author further states that a national study completed in
2009 by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (Reeve
Study) estimates that 1.3 million Americans live with
paralysis due to spinal cord injuries, which is close to five
times higher than previously reported statistics. According
to the Reeve Study, given this increasing number of paralyzed
people, rising health care costs with caregiver needs, and
loss of income potential, the total cost to California could
reach $1.5 billion per year. The author asserts that
promising research-driven therapies could greatly improve the
quality of life and functional capacity of individuals with
spinal cord injuries, thereby lessening this tremendous
financial burden to the State.
2)BACKGROUND . The Roman Reed Program, administered by the
Reeve-Irvine Research Center at UC, Irvine was established by
the Act in 2000 then renewed in 2005 by the Legislature to
study injuries to and diseases of the spinal cord that result
in paralysis or other loss of neurologic function. According
to the Roman Reed Program the Act funds critical research to
improve the quality of life to the 646,000 people in
Californians living with paralysis. In the nine years since
the Roman Reed Program was established, $13.9 million in state
funds have been allocated. Added to that is about $60 million
in federal matching grants and other sources to fund spinal
cord injury research in California. These funds are allocated
to UC which in return allocates to the Reeve-Irvine Research
Center to administer the funds.
The Roman Reed Program reports that between 2000 and 2009 over
300 Californians have participated in 120 Roman Reed Research
projects and provided the first state-funded embryonic stem
cell research in the nation. During that time, 64 graduate
students have been supported as Roman Reed Fellows.
3)SUPPORT . Don C. Reed, father of Roman Reed, the Chabot
College football player who suffered crushed vertebrae during
a game and founder of the Roman Reed Program, along with
numerous organizations and individual supporters write that
"Roman's Law" has 175 published scientific papers, two patents
pending, and several major scientific breakthroughs. Mr. Reed
states that the Act has brought the cure closer for paralysis,
traumatic brain injury, muscular dystrophy, stroke, spinal
atrophy, and more.
AB 1931
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4)PREVIOUS LEGISLATION . AB 1794 (Dutra), Chapter 414, Statutes
of 2004, extends the sunset date for the Act to January 1,
2011. AB 750 (Dutra), Chapter 777, Statutes of 2000,
establishes the Act that created the Roman Reed Program.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
California Healthcare Institute
Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
Don C. Reed
Gwendolyn Strong Foundation
Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Miami Project to Cure Paralysis
Research America
Stanford Cancer Center
Student Society for Stem Cell Research
The Stem Cell Advisors, Inc.
Unite 2 Fight Paralysis
University of California
W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience
132 individuals
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Patty Rodgers / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097