BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
1931 (Torrico)
Hearing Date: 8/12/2010 Amended: 6/24/2010
Consultant: Katie Johnson Policy Vote: Health 8-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 1931 would eliminate the January 1, 2011,
sunset date on the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act
and make specified changes.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Research grants $1 million - $2 million
annuallyGeneral
total funds in cost pressure to
continue funding at historical levels
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
This bill would eliminate the January 1, 2011, sunset date on
the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999 (Roman
Reed Program).
This bill would also extend the Spinal Cord Injury Research
Fund, which is continuously appropriated and would consist of
private donations and local and federal funds after January 1,
2011. This bill would require that any state moneys transferred
to the fund prior to January 1, 2011, would remain available in
the fund for expenditure.
Since this program is intended to be funded in part by private
funds, there would be General Fund pressure in the hundreds of
thousands to millions of dollars to continue the provision of
those funds in the event they cease to be available.
Moneys in the fund would be required to be used solely for
spinal cord injury research programs, but could be expended for
peer review and grant administration. This bill would delete the
requirement that these provisions would be implemented only to
the extent that funding for its purposes was appropriated to the
Regents of the University of California (UC) in the annual
Budget Act or another statute.
This bill would additionally permit the UC to establish and
administer an additional fund, independent of the State
Treasury, to accept public and private funds for the purpose of
implementing this program. Since this additional fund could use
state funds appropriated to the UC, there would be $1 million -
$2 million in General Fund cost pressure to the extent that the
UC continues to put funds from its budget toward this program.
Since 2000, the Roman Reed Program has provided approximately $3
million annually in spinal cord research funding in state,
federal, and private funds. If the program sunset were to be
eliminated and the program were to exist in perpetuity, there
would be cost
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AB 1931 (Torrico)
pressure of about $3 million annually in state, federal, and
private funds to maintain the historical level of research
funding the program has provided. Over the years, these $13.9
million in funds have been matched by $60 million in federal
funds and an additional $7.4 million in non-state funds are
pending.
Due to an oversight, the Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund
currently does not exist in the State Treasury. Therefore, no
funds have ever been placed into it, nor have any funds been
expended from it. Instead, the UC collects state, federal, and
private funds in the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research
account. Until FY 2008-2009, the state provided a separate
budget item of approximately $1.5 million General Fund annually
within the UC's funding allocation for the operation of the
Roman Reed Program. In FY 2009-2010, UC received the $1.2
million within its budget, but the state no longer earmarked it
for the Roman Reed Program. However, UC chose to continue
funding the program with the same amount of funds that were
historically allocated.
Since the special fund structure in statute has never been
implemented as intended, but the UC has created and maintained
the program through a separate fund, a practice that this bill
would now codify, staff recommends that the bill be amended to
maintain the program, but to clean-up the funding source to
reflect the way the program currently works as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 104336 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
104336. (a) There is hereby established a Spinal Cord Injury
Research Fund. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government
Code, the fund is continuously appropriated to the University of
California for the purposes of this chapter.
(b) The fund shall consist of money accepted by the University
of California from grants and donations from private entities,
as well as local and federal moneys transferred to the fund. Any
public state moneys transferred to the fund prior to January 1,
2011, shall remain available in the fund for expenditures
pursuant to this chapter.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, money remaining
in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the
General Fund.
(a) (d) Nothing in this section shall preclude The the
University of California from establishing and administering may
establish a Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund an additional fund ,
independent of the State Treasury, to accept public and private
funds for the purpose of implementing this chapter.
SEC. 2. Section 104337 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to` read:
104337. Moneys in the fund established pursuant to Section
104336 may be expended by the University of California solely
for spinal cord injury research programs and grants, and may be
expended for, but not limited to, costs for peer review and
grant administration.
The proposed author's amendments are the staff recommendation
above.