BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HEALTH
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Elaine K. Alquist, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1931
A
AUTHOR: Torrico
B
AMENDED: June 24, 2010
HEARING DATE: June 30, 2010
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CONSULTANT:
9
Chan-Sawin/cjt
3
1
SUBJECT
Spinal Cord Injury Research
SUMMARY
Extends the sunset date for the Spinal Cord Research
Program (Roman Reed Program) and the Spinal Cord Injury
Research Fund (Fund) to January 1, 2016. Specifies what
proceeds may be placed in the Fund, as specified, and how
those proceeds may be used. Allows the University of
California (UC) to create an additional fund, independent
of the State Treasury, to accept public and private funding
to implement the program.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law:
Establishes the Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund (Fund) and
continuously appropriates deposited funds to UC to be used
to provide grants for spinal injury research projects.
Creates the Roman Reed Program within the UC, and
authorizes the UC to use proceeds from the Fund to support
spinal cord injury research. Specifies that the Program be
implemented to the extent funding is appropriated to UC in
Continued---
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the annual state budget or other appropriating statute.
Specifies that the Fund will consist of private grants and
donations made through the UC, and public moneys
transferred to the Fund. Requires all moneys to remain in
the Fund at the end of the fiscal year and not revert back
to the General Fund.
Sunsets the Roman Reed Program and Fund as of January 1,
2011.
This bill:
Extends the sunset of the Program and Fund to January 1,
2016.
Specifies that the Fund will consist of private grants and
donations made through the UC, and local and federal moneys
transferred to the Fund. Requires any state moneys
transferred into the Fund, prior to January 1, 2011, to
remain in the Fund.
Specifies that moneys in the Fund may only be used solely
for spinal cord injury research programs and grants, and
may be used for, but not limited to, costs for peer review
and grant administration.
Allows the UC to create an additional fund, outside of the
State Treasury, to accept public and private funds to
implement the Roman Reed Program.
Deletes the provision that enacts the Program to the extent
that funds are appropriated to the UC in the annual state
budget or other appropriations.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee
analysis, this bill will have no direct General Fund
impact.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
According to the author, California is home to
approximately 646,000 people living with paralysis from
various neurologic conditions. The author asserts that the
Roman Reed Program was created to fund important research
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on spinal cord injury and, unfortunately, the Fund, and all
of the research and fiscal leverage it provides, is set to
expire at the end of this year. By extending the sunset
for the Roman Reed Program for an additional five years,
the author believes this bill would enable critical
research to occur that could make an enormous contribution
to those suffering from spinal cord injury paralysis, and
will continue to bring new scientific breakthroughs, jobs,
and revenue to California. The author asserts that
promising research-driven therapies could greatly improve
the quality of life and functional capacity of individuals
with spinal cord injuries, thereby lessening this
tremendous financial burden to the state.
Spinal cord injuries
Spinal cord injury is damage to the spinal cord that
results in a loss of function, such as mobility or feeling.
Frequent causes of damage are trauma (car accident,
gunshot, falls, etc.) or disease (polio, spina bifida,
Friedreich's Ataxia, etc.). The spinal cord does not have
to be severed in order for a loss of functioning to occur.
According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical
Center, nationwide, someone suffers a traumatic spinal cord
injury every 41 minutes. A national study completed in
2009 by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (Reeve
Study) estimates that 1.3 million Americans live with
paralysis due to spinal cord injuries, which is close to
five times higher than previously reported statistics.
According to the Reeve Study, given this increasing number
of paralyzed people, rising health care costs with
caregiver needs, and loss of income potential, the total
cost to California could reach $1.5 billion per year.
The Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Program
The Roman Reed Program, administered by the Reeve-Irvine
Research Center at UC, Irvine, was established in 2000 to
study injuries to, and diseases of, the spinal cord that
result in paralysis or other loss of neurologic function.
Each year, the Roman Reed Program has provided
approximately $1.5 million per year in spinal cord research
funding. In the nine years since the Roman Reed Program
was established, $13.9 million in state funds have been
allocated. These funds have been leveraged by the Program
to bring in about $60 million in federal matching grants
and other sources to fund spinal cord injury research in
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California. An additional $7.4 million in non-state funds
is pending. The Roman Reed Program reports that, between
2000 and 2009, over 300 Californians have participated in
120 Roman Reed Program funded research projects. The
program has also provided the first state-funded embryonic
stem cell research in the nation. During that time, 64
graduate students have been supported as Roman Reed
Fellows.
Arguments in support
Don C. Reed, father of Roman Reed, the Chabot College
football player who suffered from crushed vertebrae during
a game, and founder of the Roman Reed Program, along with
numerous organizations and individual supporters, write in
support, stating that "Roman's Law" has resulted in 175
published scientific papers, 2 patents pending, and several
major scientific breakthroughs. Mr. Reed states that the
Program has brought the cure closer for paralysis,
traumatic brain injury, muscular dystrophy, stroke, spinal
atrophy, and more.
The California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD), a non-profit group of over
4,000 professional educators, writes in support of the
research funded by the Roman Reed Program, which serves to
treat spinal cord injuries. CAHPERD states that the number
of spinal cord injuries in high school athletics has
increased in the last decade.
The California Chiropractic Association supports the bill,
stating that spinal cord injury is a serious medical
condition impacting more than 200,000 people in the United
States. The number of spinal cord injuries increase yearly
and the California Chiropractic Association believes that
it is essential to expand research in both injury and
prevention related to spinal cord injuries.
Prior legislation
AB 1794 (Dutra), Chapter 414, Statutes of 2004, extends the
sunset date for the Roman Reed Program and Fund to January
1, 2011.
AB 750 (Dutra), Chapter 777, Statutes of 2000, also known
as the Roman Reed Bill and the Roman Reed Spinal Cord
Injury Research Act, establishes the Roman Reed Program and
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 1931 (Torrico) Page
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Fund for the purpose of funding spinal cord injury
research.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Health: 19-0
Assembly Appropriations: 17-0
Assembly Floor: 75-1
POSITIONS
Support: California Association for Health, Physical
Education, Recreation and Dance
California Chiropractic Association
California Healthcare Institute
Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
Don C. Reed
Gwendolyn Strong Foundation
Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Miami Project to Cure Paralysis
Research America
Stanford Cancer Center
Student Society for Stem Cell Research
The Stem Cell Advisors, Inc.
Unite 2 Fight Paralysis
University of California
W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience
132 individuals
Oppose: None received
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