BILL ANALYSIS
AB 52
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 52 (Portantino)
As Amended August 30, 2010
2/3 vote. Urgency
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |68-8 |(June 2, 2009) |SENATE: |33-1 |(August 31, |
| | | | | |2010) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
SUMMARY : Requests the University of California (UC) to develop
a plan to establish and administer the Umbilical Cord Blood
Collection Program (UCBCP) on or before July 1, 2011, and
imposes a temporary $1 fee on specified birth certificates to
fund the program.
The Senate amendments :
1)Shift administration of the UCBCP from the Department of
Public Health (DPH) to UC, if UC elects to administer the
program.
2)Define public use of umbilical cord blood as blood units from
genetically diverse donors that will be owned by the UC.
3)Permit UC, for the purpose of implementing cord blood
collection goals of the program, to contract with one or more
entities that are in compliance with federal guidelines and
regulations.
4)Allow UC to use a competitive process to select entities to
administer the collection and research objectives of the
program, if the UC chooses not to undertake these activities
itself.
5)Require entities selected pursuant to 4) above to receive,
process, and preserve, or bank cord blood units to have, at
minimum, an investigational new drug exemption or a biological
license from the Federal Drug Administration.
6)Express legislative intent that UC limit fees for access to
cord blood units to the reasonable and actual costs of
storage, handling, and providing units, as well as for related
AB 52
Page 2
services, as specified.
7)Express additional legislative intent that UC develop a
strategy to increase voluntary participation by hospitals in
the collection and storage of umbilical cord blood, as
specified; consider a medical contingency response program, as
specified; and explore the feasibility of operating the
program as a self-funding program.
8)Permit UC to deny further access to any confidential
information maintained by UC to any person who violates its
policies to maintain confidentiality of information, and
subjects them to a civil penalty of up to $1,000.
9)Extend the sunset on the UCBCP from January 1, 2015, to
January 1, 2018.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires DPH to establish the UCBCP by January 1, 2010, and
until January 1, 2015, for the purpose of increasing the
amount of umbilical cord blood that is donated in the state
and added to the NCBI.
2)Authorizes the UCBCP, to the extent private or public funds
are identified and secured for these purposes, to identify and
provide funds for grants or contracts with qualified blood
banks that are licensed and accredited to collect and store
umbilical cord blood for public transplantation services.
Permits DPH to implement any additional standards for blood
banks to collect and store umbilical cord blood through the
adoption of regulations.
3)Requires DPH, contingent upon private funding, to conduct the
Umbilical Cord Blood Community Awareness Campaign; establish
an Internet Web site with specified information; and,
undertake public education activities related to umbilical
cord blood donation to targeted populations, as appropriate.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill extended for one year the
date by which DPH is required to establish UCBCP; and, required
DPH to contract with up to five licensed or accredited blood
banks to collect and store umbilical cord blood, as specified.
AB 52
Page 3
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Operating funds unknown, but cost pressure to fund
Special/*Federal
more than $3,000 annually
Private/General
$2 fee revenues Approximately $3,000 annually,Special*
commencing January 1, 2011
Potential loss of a federal grant $471 $0 $0Federal
*Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Fund
COMMENTS : The author states that the National Cord Blood
Inventory currently lacks ethnic and multiracial cord blood and
the UCBCP is intended to collect cord blood for public use and
increase the volume of cord blood that can be added to the
national inventory. According to the author, DPH, with more
than 300 varied health programs, is facing major budget cuts and
significant reorganization and has not been willing to provide
support for the funding or administration strategy of the UCBCP.
The author argues that this bill shifts administration of the
program to UC, given that many relationships already exist
between the University and birthing hospitals throughout the
state, UC has cord blood experts within its system, and it
operated an umbilical cord blood bank at UCLA in the late 1990s.
The author states that this bill will ensure collections from
California's ethnically diverse communities will help to address
shortages in cord blood donations from minority groups and
increase the likelihood of transplant patients finding suitable
donor matches.
Analysis Prepared by : Cassie Rafanan / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0006865