BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SCR 98
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 5, 2010

                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
                                Nancy Skinner, Chair
                 SCR 98 (Strickland) - As Introduced:  April 12, 2010

           SENATE VOTE  :   31-0
           
          SUBJECT  :   Spinal muscular atrophy.

           SUMMARY  :   Declares August 2010, as Spinal Muscular Atrophy  
          Awareness Month.  Specifically,  this resolution  makes the  
          following legislative findings:

          1)One in every 40 Americans unknowingly caries the gene  
            responsible for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA); and most  
            children impacted by SMA succumb to the disease before their  
            second birthday.

          2)SMA causes degeneration in voluntary muscle movement,  
            eventually impacting the ability to walk, sit, crawl, stand,  
            breathe, eat, and even swallow; but SMA does not impact the  
            mind, which leave bright and sensitive children in failing  
            bodies.

          3)There is currently no treatment and no cure for SMA, but the  
            National Institutes of Health (NIH) selected SMA as the  
            disease closest to treatment of more than 600 neurological  
            disorders; and the nation's leading researchers signed a  
            statement stressing that, with adequate resources, a viable  
            treatment or cure is attainable in as little as five years.

          4)Increased awareness of SMA will lead to increased knowledge  
            and increased support for both disease research and families  
            affected by the disease, hopefully leading to a cure.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          None on file.
           
            Opposition 








                                                                 SCR 98
                                                                  Page  2

           
          None on file.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Anna McCabe / RLS. / (916) 319-2800