Amended in Assembly May 1, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 21, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 122

Introduced by Assembly Member Beth Gaines

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Skinner, Stone, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, and Yamada)

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March 17, 2014

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 122—Relative to Bone Marrow Donation Awareness Month.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 122, as amended, Beth Gaines. Bone Marrow Donation Awareness Month.

This measure would designate the month of May 2014 as Bone Marrow Donation Awareness Month.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Since 1987, when Congress authorized the
establishment of a national registry of volunteer bone marrow
donors, the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), now
publicly known as Be The Match, has facilitated more than 61,000
marrow and umbilical cord blood transplants; and

WHEREAS, Be The Match states that the number of transplants
facilitated through the national Be The Match Registry is “only a
fraction of the people who can benefit”; and

WHEREAS, One of the leading hurdles cited in a report by the
Government Accountability Office is locating a suitably matched,
unrelated donor, a process that is often difficult, time-consuming,
and costly; and

WHEREAS, The most prevalent problem with respect to bone
marrow donation is the need for racially and ethnically diverse
donors because of complex tissue types. Of the more than 11
million potential donors on the United States’ Be The Match
Registry, 41 percent are donors from racially and ethnically diverse
backgrounds; and

WHEREAS, There is a need to enhance the understanding of
the importance of bone marrow donation, and to encourage
Californians to participate in bone marrow donation drives; and

WHEREAS, Be The Match operates the world’s largest and
most diverse registry of potential bone marrow donors; and

WHEREAS, There is a need to support programs that reduce
search time for patients and fully type donors whose tissue
compatibility types are less common; and

WHEREAS, The bone marrow registration process is simple.
It only takes a few minutes and requires a cheek swab; now,
therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature designates May 2014 as
Bone Marrow Donation Awareness Month; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.