BILL NUMBER: SB 583	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 2, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Vargas
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Steinberg)
   (  Coauthor:   Senator  
Emmerson   Coauthors:   Senators  
DeSaulnier   and Emmerson  )
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Cook  , Garrick,  and Silva)

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act to repeal, add, and repeal Article 17 (commencing with
Section 18881) of Chapter 3 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code, relating to taxation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 583, as amended, Vargas. Personal income tax: voluntary
contributions: ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease Research Fund.
   Existing personal income tax allow individual taxpayers to
contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support
of specified funds, including the ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease Research
Fund. Those laws repeal the ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease Research Fund on
January 1, 2013, or on the taxable year beginning on or after
January 1 of the calendar year in which the Franchise Tax Board
estimates, by September 1, that the contributions made on returns
filed in that calendar year will be less than a minimum contribution
amount,  as defined,  whichever occurs first.  Those
laws define "minimum contribution amount" as $250,000 for each
calendar year. 
   This bill would repeal those provisions and reenact similar
provisions, except that the January 1, 2013, repeal date would be
extended to January 1, 2016  , and the minimum contributions
amount would be reduced to $200,000  .
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Article 17 (commencing with Section 18881) of Chapter 3
of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
  SEC. 2.  Article 17 (commencing with Section 18881) is added to
Chapter 3 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation
Code, to read:

      Article 17.  ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease Research Fund


   18881.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as
Lou Gehrig's disease, is a degenerative disease of the motor nerves
that causes progressive weakness of all voluntary muscles. People
with ALS become unable to move, swallow, speak, and breathe without
assistance, usually remaining fully aware of what is happening to
them and their families.
   (b) ALS is a fatal disease. There is no cure and only one drug
therapy, which allows the patient a month or two more of life. Most
ALS patients die within two to five years of symptom onset. Every 90
minutes someone is diagnosed with ALS and every 90 minutes someone
dies of the disease. ALS knows no racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic
boundaries, often striking people at midlife and at the height of
family and financial responsibilities.
   (c) The devastating physical, emotional, and financial effects
caused by the progression of ALS and the 24-hour-a-day,
seven-day-a-week caregiving required impact not only the patient, but
the entire family. ALS is a family disease and the need for research
is dire.
   (d) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this article,
to establish a systematic program to conduct research regarding the
cause, cure, and prevention of ALS. The outcome of this research may
have direct effects and consequences on the development of a
comprehensive system that may identify the cause, cure, and
prevention of ALS, as well as improving the screening, diagnosis, and
treatment of victims of ALS. This program shall award grants to
eligible physicians, hospitals, laboratories, educational
institutions, and other organizations and persons for the purpose of
enabling organizations and persons to conduct research.
   18882.  (a) Any individual may designate on the tax return that a
contribution in excess of the tax liability, if any, be made to the
ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease Research Fund, which is established by
Section 18883.
   (b) The contributions shall be in full dollar amounts and may be
made individually by each signatory on a joint return.
   (c) A designation under subdivision (a) shall be made for any
taxable year on the initial return for that taxable year, and once
made shall be irrevocable. In the event that payment and credits
reported on the return, together with any other credits associated
with the individual's account, do not exceed the individual's
liability, the return shall be treated as though no designation has
been made.
   (d) When another voluntary contribution designation is removed
from the tax return,  or as soon as space is available on the tax
return,  the Franchise Tax Board shall revise the forms of the
return to include a space labeled the "ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease
Research Fund" to allow for the designation permitted under
subdivision (a). The forms shall also include in the instructions,
information that the contribution may be in the amount of one dollar
($1) or more and that the contribution shall be used to conduct
research relating to the cure, screening, and treatment of ALS.
   (e) It is the intent of the Legislature that the ALS/Lou Gehrig's
Disease Research Fund be placed on the tax return as soon as space is
available.
   (f) A deduction shall be allowed under Article 6 (commencing with
Section 17201) of Chapter 3 of Part 10 for any contribution made
pursuant to subdivision (a).
   18883.  There is hereby established in the State Treasury the
ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease Research Fund to receive contributions made
pursuant to Section 18882. The Franchise Tax Board shall notify the
Controller of both the amount of money paid by taxpayers in excess of
their tax liability and the amount of refund money that taxpayers
have designated pursuant to Section 18882 to be transferred to the
ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease Research Fund. The Controller shall transfer
from the Personal Income Tax Fund to the ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease
Research Fund an amount not in excess of the sum of the amounts
designated by individuals pursuant to Section 18882 for payment into
that fund.
   18884.  All money transferred to the ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease
Research Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, shall be
allocated as follows:
   (a) To the Franchise Tax Board and the Controller for
reimbursement only of all costs incurred by the Franchise Tax Board
and the Controller in connection with their duties under this
article.
   (b) (1) To the State Department of Public Health, for allocation
to the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association, an organization
exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code, to provide research grants to develop and advance the
understanding, techniques, and modalities effective in the
prevention, treatment, and cure of ALS.
   (2) Except as provided in subdivision (a), funds made available
pursuant to this article shall be used only to provide grants as
prescribed by this subdivision. Funds made available pursuant to this
subdivision shall not be used by the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Association for administrative purposes, to reimburse their costs
associated with administering grants, to further their programs, or
for any purpose relating to their own operations.
   18885.  For the purpose of this article, "research" shall include,
but not be limited to, clinical trials, as well as expenditures to
develop and advance the understanding, techniques, and modalities
effective in the prevention, cure, screening, and treatment of ALS.
   18886.  (a) Unless repealed earlier pursuant to subdivision (b),
this article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2016, and
as of that date is repealed.
   (b) (1) By September 1 of the first calendar year that the ALS/Lou
Gehrig's Disease Research Fund appears on the tax return, and by
September 1 of each subsequent calendar year, the Franchise Tax Board
shall do all of the following:
   (A) Determine the minimum contribution amount required to be
received during the next calendar year for the fund to appear on the
tax return for the taxable year that includes the next calendar year.

   (B) Provide written notification to the State Department of Public
Health of the amount determined in subparagraph (A).
   (C) Determine whether the amount of contributions estimated to be
received during the calendar year will equal or exceed the minimum
contribution amount determined by the Franchise Tax Board for the
calendar year pursuant to subparagraph (A). The Franchise Tax Board
shall estimate the amount of contributions to be received by using
the actual amounts received and an estimate of the contributions that
will be received by the end of that calendar year.
   (2) If the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of
contributions estimated to be received during a calendar year will
not equal at least the minimum contribution amount for the calendar
year, this article is repealed with respect to taxable years
beginning on or after January 1 of that calendar year.
   (3) For purposes of this section, "minimum contribution amount"
for a calendar year means two hundred  thousand dollars
($200,000)   fifty thousand dollars ($250,000)  for
the third calendar year that the ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease Research
Fund appears on the tax return, or the minimum contribution amount
adjusted pursuant to subdivision (c).
   (c) For each calendar year beginning with the  third
  second  calendar year that the ALS/Lou Gehrig's
Disease Research Fund appears on the tax return, the Franchise Tax
Board shall adjust, on or before September 1 of that calendar year,
the minimum contribution amount specified in subdivision (b) as
follows:
   (1) The minimum contribution amount for the calendar year shall be
an amount equal to the product of the minimum contribution amount
for the prior calendar year multiplied by the inflation factor
adjustment as specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (h) of
Section 17041, rounded off to the nearest dollar.
   (2) The inflation factor adjustment used for the calendar year
shall be based on the figures for the percentage change in the
California Consumer Price Index received on or before August 1 of the
calendar year pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (h) of
Section 17041.
   (d) Notwithstanding the repeal of this article, any contribution
amounts designated pursuant to this article prior to its repeal shall
continue to be transferred and disbursed in accordance with this
article as in effect immediately prior to that repeal.