BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SCR 43
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   June 13, 2011

                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
                                Nancy Skinner, Chair
                 SCR 43 (Strickland) - As Introduced:  April 28, 2011

           SENATE VOTE  :   37-0
           
          SUBJECT  :   Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month.

           SUMMARY  :   Declares August 2011, and each August thereafter,  as 
          Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month.  Specifically,  this 
          resolution  makes the following legislative findings:

          1)One in every 40 Americans unknowingly carries 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.

          4)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; and 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.
           








                                                                 SCR 43
                                                                  Page  2

            Opposition 
           
          None on file.


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