BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       


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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1799|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1799
          Author:   Mullin (D) & Bates (R), et al
          Amended:  6/21/04 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE REVENUE & TAXATION COMMITTEE  :  4-0, 6/9/04
          AYES:  Cedillo, Poochigian, Burton, Hollingsworth
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Alpert, Ashburn, Bowen

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 6/28/04
          AYES:  Battin, Aanestad, Karnette, Machado, Murray,  
            Poochigian, Speier
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Alpert, Ashburn, Bowen, Burton, Escutia,  
            Johnson

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  70-0, 4/29/04 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Income tax:  Alzheimers Disease Tax Checkoff

           SOURCE  :     California Alzheimers Association


           DIGEST  :    This bill extends the sunset date on the  
          California Alzheimers Disease and Related Disorders  
          Research Fund (Fund) income tax checkoff from January 1,  
          2005 to January 1, 2010, provided the fund receives at  
          least a specified, minimum level of contributions annually.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law allows taxpayers to contribute  
          money to one or more of 11 voluntary contribution funds by  
          checking a box on their state income tax return.   
          California law requires contributions made through  
                                                           CONTINUED





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          checkoffs to be made from taxpayers' own resources (not  
          from their tax liability, as is possible on federal tax  
          returns).  Checkoff amounts may be claimed as charitable  
          contributions on taxpayers' tax returns during the  
          subsequent year.

          This bill extends the sunset date for the Alzheimer's  
          disease income tax checkoff from January 1, 2005 to January  
          1, 2010 and updates legislative findings related to  
          statistical information about Alzheimer's and other  
          dementia related diseases, including the number of people  
          affected and the cost of caring for people afflicted by  
          these diseases.

          This bill is sponsored by the author and is intended to  
          allow the Fund to remain on the income tax form beyond the  
          2004 tax year.  This income tax checkoff fund provides  
          money for research grants related to the care, treatment,  
          and the cure of Alzheimer's disease.  Money contributed  
          using the checkoff is distributed by the Secretary of the  
          Health and Welfare Agency, in consultation with the State  
          Department of Aging.

          The Fund checkoff first appeared on the income tax form in  
          1987.  Since that time, its sunset date has been extended  
          twice.  The Alzheimer's checkoff is typically one of the  
          more popular checkoffs on California's tax form.  In  
          2002-03, the last fiscal year for which contribution  
          information is available, the Alzheimer's checkoff received  
          approximately $544,000 in contributions, fourth highest  
          among the 11 checkoffs on the return.

          According to the author's office, from 1988-2003, the  
          Alzheimer's Disease checkoff has collected $6,785,993,  
          averaging more than $424,000 annually.  Funds are  
          distributed through grants awarded by the Director of the  
          State Department of Health Services through a competitive  
          process utilizing technical review panels.  Contributions  
          have funded 101 research studies on the cause, diagnosis,  
          treatment, and care of Alzheimer's and other dementia  
          disorders.  All awards are to scientists based at  
          California public or private nonprofit organizations.

          The checkoffs currently listed on the income tax return  







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          raise between $3.4-$3.9 million per year from approximately  
          140,000 taxpayers.  The following is the amount of revenue  
          generated by the existing checkoffs for 2003 (the Mission  
          Fund data is for 2004):


           ------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |              Fund              |    Volume     |   Amount   |
          |                                |               |            |
          |--------------------------------+---------------+------------|
          |California Seniors Special Fund |   $  1,135    |  $ 58,041  |
          |--------------------------------+---------------+------------|
          |Alzheimer's Disease/Related     |    51,998     |  571,457   |
          |Disorders Fund                  |               |            |
          |--------------------------------+---------------+------------|
          |California Fund for Senior      |    38,123     |  296,087   |
          |Citizens                        |               |            |
          |--------------------------------+---------------+------------|
          |Rare and Endangered Species     |    55,827     |  673,981   |
          |Preservation                    |               |            |
          |--------------------------------+---------------+------------|
          |State Children's Task Fund      |    62,403     |  674,783   |
          |--------------------------------+---------------+------------|
          |California Breast Cancer        |    58,570     |  646,664   |
          |Research Fund                   |               |            |
          |--------------------------------+---------------+------------|
          |California Firefighters'        |    28,688     |  206,112   |
          |Memorial  Fund                  |               |            |
          |--------------------------------+---------------+------------|
          |Emergency Food Assistance       |    39,842     |  395,003   |
          |Program Fund                    |               |            |
          |--------------------------------+---------------+------------|
          |California Peace Officer        |    24,302     |  179,444   |
          |Memorial                        |               |            |
          |    Foundation                  |               |            |
          |--------------------------------+---------------+------------|
          |Asthma and Lung Disease         |    31,016     |  216,390   |
          |Research Fund                   |               |            |
          |--------------------------------+---------------+------------|
          |California Missions Foundation  |     3,039     |22,124      |
          |Fund                            |               |            |
           ------------------------------------------------------------- 

          Currently, the state tax return has enough lines to hold 12  







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          tax checkoffs.

           Legislative History

           There have been a number of bills related to the  
          Alzheimer's checkoff, as follows:

           AB 160 (Alquist), Chapter 315, Statutes of 1999  .  Extended  
          the operation of the California Alzheimer's Disease and  
          Related Research Fund to January 1, 2005.

           SB 1447 (Alquist), Chapter 494, Statutes of 1996  .  Extended  
          the repeal date of the Alzheimer's Disease Fund from  
          January 1, 1997 to January 1, 2000.

           SB 214 (Mello), Chapter 944, Statutes of 1987  .  Enacted the  
          California Alzheimer's Disease and Related Research Fund  
          that appeared on the return from January 1, 1999.

           Related Legislation

          SB 1736 (Bowen), 2003-04 Session  .  Changes the system for  
          tax checkoff placement in the tax booklet.  (Failed passage  
          in Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee)

           AB 658 (Nakano), 2003-04 Session  .  Changes the system for  
          checkoff placement in the tax booklet.  (Failed passage in  
          Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee.

           AB 1283 (Kehoe) -- 2003-04 Session  .  Creates a checkoff for  
          the California Arts Council.

           AB 1799 (Mullin) -- 2003-04 Session  .  Extends the  
          Alzheimer's checkoff sunset day from 2005 through 2010.

           AB 1928 (Parra) -- 2003-04 Session  .   Creates a checkoff  
          for a new California Military Family Relief Fund to provide  
          money to reservists or members of the National Guard who  
          are called up to duty.

           AB 1994 (Berg) -- 2003-04 Session .  Modifies the allocation  
          of money for the senior funds.

           AB 2346 (Corbett) -- 2003-04 Session  .  Creates a checkoff  







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          for a new Police Activities Fund.

           AB 2886 (Corbett) -- 2003-04 Session .  Creates a checkoff  
          for a new Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Fund.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/29/04)

          California Alzheimer's Association (source)
          Alzheimer's Research Center of California
          California Council on Alzheimer's 
          California Senior Legislature
          California Commission on Aging
          Gray Panthers


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Berg, Bermudez, Bogh,  
            Calderon, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn,  
            Corbett, Correa, Cox, Daucher, Diaz, Dutra, Dutton,  
            Dymally, Firebaugh, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock,  
            Harman, Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton, Houston, Jackson,  
            Keene, Kehoe, Koretz, La Malfa, La Suer, Laird, Leno,  
            Levine, Lieber, Liu, Longville, Lowenthal, Maddox,  
            Matthews, Maze, McCarthy, Montanez, Mountjoy, Mullin,  
            Nakanishi, Nakano, Nation, Negrete McLeod, Parra, Reyes,  
            Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Runner, Salinas, Samuelian,  
            Simitian, Spitzer, Steinberg, Strickland, Wesson, Wolk,  
            Wyland, Yee, Nunez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Campbell, Haynes, Leslie, Maldonado,  
            Oropeza, Pacheco, Pavley, Plescia, Vargas, Wiggins


          DLW:cm  6/30/04   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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