BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          SB 1006 (Wolk) - Firearm Violence Research Center
          
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |                                                                 |
          |                                                                 |
          |                                                                 |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |                                |                                |
          |Version: April 11, 2016         |Policy Vote: ED. 7 - 2, PUB. S. |
          |                                |          5 - 2                 |
          |                                |                                |
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |                                |                                |
          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
          |                                |                                |
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |                                |                                |
          |Hearing Date: May 16, 2016      |Consultant: Jolie Onodera       |
          |                                |                                |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.


          Bill  
          Summary:  SB 1006 would request the Regents of the University of  
          California (UC) establish a Firearm Violence Research Center  
          (Center) and administer the Center and a grant program pursuant  
          to, and consistent with, specified principles and goals. 


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  
            UC Research Center  :  To the extent the Regents of the UC  
            resolve to make the provisions of the bill applicable,  
            potential one-time and ongoing funding of $1 million to $2  
            million (General Fund) annually would be required to establish  
            and support the Center, including staffing, administrative  
            costs, and the grant program.  
            State agencies  :  Potentially significant costs (General Fund /  
            Special Funds*) to specified state agencies to provide the  
            data necessary for the Center to conduct its research as  
            required upon proper request by the center. It is unclear what  







          SB 1006 (Wolk)                                         Page 1 of  
          ?
          
          
            would constitute a "proper request" as it is undefined in the  
            bill. To the extent state agencies do not currently collect,  
            track, or have access to the data requested, costs could  
            potentially be very significant. The DPH and DMV have  
            indicated no significant fiscal impact to meet any potential  
            data requests.   


          Background:  Various research centers and programs focus on public safety  
          research, including firearms violence prevention, such as the  
          John Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, the Harvard  
          Injury Control Research Center, and the National Consortium for  
          Violence Research supported by grant funding from the National  
          Science Foundation. In California, the Violence Prevention  
          Research Program (VPRP) at the UC Davis Health System describes  
          itself as follows: 
              The VPRP is a multi-disciplinary program of research  
              and policy development focused on the causes,  
              consequences, and prevention of violence. We place a  
              particular focus on firearm violence, and on the  
              connections between violence, substance abuse, and  
              mental illness.


              We helped develop the public health approach to  
              violence in the 1980s, and we apply that approach to  
              everything we do. Our mission is to develop and  
              disseminate the research evidence on which informed  
              policy and practice are based. Our approach to  
              research and prevention is hemispheric, focusing on  
              areas that face the highest burden from violence.

              Our program of research on firearm violence is  
              internationally recognized as among the best of its  
              kind. We are now expanding in size and scope, adding  
              new areas of emphasis in alcohol and drug abuse,  
              mental illness, and the social factors that determine  
              risk for violence, substance abuse, and mental  
              illness.

          This bill seeks to provide support for gun violence research  
          that has been subject to limited funding at the federal level  
          subsequent to 1996. According to the Smithsonian article, Why So  
          Few Scientists Are Studying the Causes of Gun Violence (July  








          SB 1006 (Wolk)                                         Page 2 of  
          ?
          
          
          2015):


              For nearly 20 years, the Center for Disease Control  
              and Prevention (CDC) has been subject to what some  
              call a ban on funding to study gun violence.  
              Originally included in the 1996 appropriations bill as  
              a rider proposed by Arkansas Representative Jay  
              Dickey, the amendment doesn't explicitly ban gun  
              research. Instead it says that "none of the funds made  
              available for injury prevention and control at the  
              Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used  
              to advocate or promote gun control," reports Christine  
              Jamieson for the American Psychological Association's  
              Psychological Science Agenda. She adds: However,  
              Congress also took $2.6 million from the CDC's budget  
              - the amount the CDC had invested in firearm injury  
              research the previous year - and earmarked the funds  
              for prevention of traumatic brain injury. The  
              vagueness of the Dickey amendment wording has kept the  
              CDC from funding researchers that might study gun  
              violence for fear that they would be financially  
              punished.




          Proposed Law:  
           This bill would request that the UC Regents establish a Firearm  
          Violence Research Center (the Center), and administer the Center  
          and a grant program, as follows:

           Requires interdisciplinary work of the Center to address the  
            following:



               o      The nature of firearm violence, including  
                 individual and societal determinants of risk for  
                 involvement in firearm violence, whether as a victim or  
                 a perpetrator.











          SB 1006 (Wolk)                                         Page 3 of  
          ?
          
          
               o      The individual, community, and societal  
                 consequences of firearm violence.



               o      Prevention and treatment of firearm violence at  
                 the individual, community, and societal levels.



           Requires the Center to conduct basic, translational, and  
            transformative research with a mission to provide the  
            scientific evidence on which sound firearm violence  
            prevention policies and programs can be based. Its research  
            shall include, but not be limited to, the effectiveness of  
            existing laws and policies intended to reduce firearm  
            violence, including the criminal misuse of firearms, and  
            efforts to promote the responsible ownership and use of  
            firearms.



           Requires the Center to work on a continuing basis with  
            policymakers in the Legislature and state agencies to  
            identify, implement, and evaluate innovative firearm  
            violence prevention policies and programs.



           Requires the Center to recruit and provide specialized  
            training opportunities for new researchers, including  
            experienced investigators in related fields who are  
            beginning work on firearm violence, young investigators who  
            have completed their education, postdoctoral scholars,  
            doctoral students, and undergraduates.



           Provides that it is the intent of the Legislature to support  
            the Center's activities by funding the Center with an  
            appropriation to a Firearm Violence Research Center Account.  
            Authorizes the Center to also seek additional federal,  
            state, and private funds.









          SB 1006 (Wolk)                                         Page 4 of  
          ?
          
          


           As a supplement to its own research, requires the Center to  
            administer a small grants program for research on firearm  
            violence, funded through a research account in the Firearm  
            Violence Research Center Account. All research funds are to  
            be awarded on the basis of scientific merit as determined by  
            an open, competitive peer review process that assures  
            objectivity, consistency, and high quality. All qualified  
            investigators, regardless of institutional affiliation, are  
            to have equal access and opportunity to compete for the  
            funds in the research account.



           Provides that it is the intent of the Legislature that on or  
            before December 31, 2017, and every five years thereafter,  
            the UC transmit programmatic, as well as financial, reports  
            to the state, including a report on the grants made, pending  
            grants, program accomplishments, and the future direction of  
            the program.



           Requires state agencies, including, but not limited to, the  
            DOJ, DPH, DHCS, OSHPD, and the DMV, to provide to the  
            Center, upon proper request, the data necessary for the  
            Center to conduct its research.



           Requires the Center and all recipients of grants supported  
            by the research account to provide copies of their research  
            publications to the Legislature and to agencies supplying  
            data used in the conduct of that research as soon as is  
            practicable following publication, as specified.



           This article shall apply to the University of California  
            only to the extent that the Regents of the University of  
            California, by resolution, make any of these provisions  
            applicable to the UC.









          SB 1006 (Wolk)                                         Page 5 of  
          ?
          
          



          Related  
          Legislation:  AB 2600 (Lackey) 2015 requests the UC Regents to  
          establish the California Institute for Aerospace, and specifies  
          implementation only to the extent that the Regents determine  
          that adequate funding for its purposes has been provided from  
          federal, local, or private sector sources in the annual Budget  
          Act or in another statute. This bill is pending hearing in the  
          Assembly Appropriations Committee.  
          Prior Legislation:  SB 466 (DeSaulnier) 2014 would have  
          established the California Institute for Criminal Justice Policy  
          (CICJP) at the request of the Legislature to the UC to house the  
          CICJP to facilitate independent and nonpartisan research on  
          issues related to criminal justice and public safety by experts  
          in the UC system and beyond. This bill was held on the Suspense  
          File of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. 


          Staff  
          Comments:  The UC does not anticipate costs associated with this  
          measure, as the bill states the intent of the Legislature to  
          support the Center through a state appropriation. Additionally,  
          due to the provision that provides the Regents with the option  
          of establishing the Center, to the extent sufficient state  
          funding is not made available, the Regents would likely not  
          establish the Center. To the extent the UC has the appropriate  
          expertise and an appropriate level of funding specific to the  
          Center is made available, annual state funding in the range of  
          $1 million to $2 million (General Fund) per year would likely be  
          required to operate the Center. While the bill authorizes the  
          Center to seek additional federal, state, and private funds,  
          there is no mandate to do so.
          This bill requires specified state agencies (DOJ, DPH, DHCS,  
          OSHPD, and DMV) to provide to the UC "upon proper request" the  
          data necessary for the Center to conduct its research. Staff  
          notes it is unclear what would constitute a proper request from  
          the Center, as it is undefined in the bill. To the extent the  
          state agencies do not collect, track, or have access to the data  
          being requested, the costs to provide the data could be  
          significant, resulting in overtime, staffing, and potentially  
          automation system upgrades to meet the data provision mandate in  
          the bill.








          SB 1006 (Wolk)                                         Page 6 of  
          ?
          
          


          The Department of Public Health (DPH) has indicated no  
          significant fiscal impact to provide data to the Center, as this  
          activity is consistent with the DPH's epidemiological and  
          surveillance activities and could be absorbed within its current  
          workload. Likewise, the DMV has indicated minor costs to  
          accommodate any requests for data.


                                      -- END --