BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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                              UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SCR 39
          Author:   Steinberg (D), et al
          Amended:  6/15/09
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE FLOOR  :  38-0, 5/14/09
          AYES:  Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Benoit, Calderon,  
            Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham, DeSaulnier,  
            Ducheny, Dutton, Florez, Hancock, Harman, Hollingsworth,  
            Huff, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Maldonado, Negrete  
            McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Romero, Runner,  
            Simitian, Steinberg, Strickland, Walters, Wiggins, Wolk,  
            Wright, Wyland, Yee
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Cedillo

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  Read and adopted, 6/8/09


           SUBJECT  :    Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month

           SOURCE  :     California Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis  
          Advocacy
                      Committee


           DIGEST  :    This resolution proclaims the month of May 2009  
          as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month in  
          California, and encourages continued research in order to  
          find treatments and eventually a cure for amyotrophic  
          lateral sclerosis and care and support for patients and  
          families.

                                                           CONTINUED





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           Assembly Amendments  added coauthors.

           ANALYSIS  :    This resolution makes the following  
          legislative findings:

          1. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as  
             Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive and fatal  
             neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in  
             the brain and spinal cord.

          2. When motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to  
             initiate and control muscle movement is lost and never  
             regained.

          3. As ALS progresses, patients lose the ability to walk,  
             eat, speak, move, and breathe and require 24-hour,  
             seven-day-a-week care.

          4. ALS does not usually affect a patient's mental capacity,  
             thus resulting in persons with ALS who are alert and  
             aware while being trapped in their bodies.

          5. ALS is usually diagnosed between 40 and 70 years of age,  
             with the peak age of onset being around 56 years of age.

          6. Every 90 minutes someone in the United States is  
             diagnosed with ALS and every 90 minutes someone else  
             dies of ALS.

          7. ALS knows no boundaries and can strike anyone, resulting  
             in all citizens being at risk of having ALS.

          8. American veterans have a higher incidence of ALS than  
             the general population, and Gulf War veterans, in  
             particular, have twice the incidence of ALS compared to  
             the general population.

          9. Eighty-five percent of patients diagnosed with ALS  
             survive only two to five years from the time of first  
             noticing muscle weakness.

          10.ALS has no known cause, prevention, or cure.

          11.Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month increases  







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             the public's awareness of ALS patients' circumstances  
             and acknowledges the terrible impact this disease has,  
             not only on patients, but on patients' families as well,  
             and recognizes the need for ALS research and for quality  
             treatment, care, and support of patients and families  
             living with ALS.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Fiscal Com.:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/16/09)

          California Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Advocacy Committee  
          (source) 


          CTW:nl  6/17/09   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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