BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1931|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1931
Author: Torrico (D), et al
Amended: 8/17/10 in Senate
Vote: 27
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/30/10
AYES: Alquist, Strickland, Aanestad, Cedillo, Leno,
Negrete McLeod, Pavley, Romero
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 11-0, 8/12/10
AYES: Kehoe, Ashburn, Alquist, Corbett, Emmerson, Leno,
Price, Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-1, 6/2/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Spinal Cord Injury Research
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill 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. This bill
allows the University of California to create an additional
fund, independent of the State Treasury, to accept public
and private funding to implement the program.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
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1.Establishes the Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund (Fund)
and continuously appropriates deposited funds to the
University of California (UC) to be used to provide
grants for spinal injury research projects.
2.Creates the Roman Reed Program within the UC, and
authorizes the UC to use proceeds from the Fund to
support spinal cord injury research.
3.Specifies that the Program be implemented to the extent
funding is appropriated to UC in the annual state budget
or other appropriating statute.
4.Specifies that the Fund will consist of private grants
and donations made through the UC, and public moneys
transferred to the Fund.
5.Requires all moneys to remain in the Fund at the end of
the fiscal year and not revert back to the General Fund.
6.Sunsets the Roman Reed Program and Fund as of January 1,
2011.
This bill:
1.Extends the sunset of the Program and Fund to January 1,
2016.
2.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.
3.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.
4.Allows the UC to create an additional spinal and injury
research fund, outside of the State Treasury, to accept
public and private funds to implement the Roman Reed
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Program.
5.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.
Background
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 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
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
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Fellows.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
Research grants $1 - $2 million
annually General
total funds in cost pressure to
continue funding at historical levels
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/17/10)
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
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
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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.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,
Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Anderson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Lieu, Audra Strickland
CTW:nl 8/17/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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