BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D., Chair
BILL NO: AB 714
AUTHOR: Wieckowski
AMENDED: June 24, 2013
HEARING DATE: July 3, 2013
CONSULTANT: Perez
SUBJECT : Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund.
SUMMARY : Appropriates $1 million from the General Fund to the
spinal cord injury research fund authorized pursuant to the
Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999.
Existing law: Establishes the Roman Reed Act and authorizes the
University of California (UC) to establish a spinal cord injury
(SCI) research fund independent of the State Treasury, to accept
public and private funds for the purpose of injury research
programs and grants.
This bill: Appropriates $1 million from the General Fund (GF) to
the spinal cord injury research fund authorized pursuant to the
Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill will result in a $1 million GF
appropriation.
PRIOR VOTES :
Assembly Health: 16- 2
Assembly Appropriations:14- 0
Assembly Floor: 68- 3
COMMENTS :
1.Author's statement. The Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Fund
was funded by the GF for 10 years. In recent years of
financial hardship, hard choices were made to cut funding to
this program. According to the author, this bill restores
funding to critically important biomedical research. The
author maintains groundbreaking biomedical research funded
through this program in the past has resulted in real results
and real discoveries including 175 peer-reviewed publications,
new robotic devices to help patients recover movement, and
advancement of new drugs to pre-clinical trials. These
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discoveries inform our understanding and treatment of diseases
like multiple sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy, cerebral
palsy, Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, spina
bifida, encephalitis, and many more. The author asserts that
the money invested by the state - which is used to draw down
even more federal research dollars - simultaneously advances
innovation, stimulates the California economy, and creates
jobs. The author sustains that, at this time of impending
sequestration, federal funding for biomedical research is
being reduced and California institutions may lose 10 percent
of their research funding this year. The author argues our
state must step up and fill that gap and maintain our position
as a leader in biotech research.
2.The Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act. According to
a 2012 report by the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research
Program, in the late 1990's it was estimated that care for
quadriplegic individuals, as a result of a cervical SCI, cost
the state of California $340 million annually. AB 750
(Dutra), Chapter 777, Statutes of 2000, established the Roman
Reed Act to support scientific research related to SCIs. The
original five-year program was renewed for an additional five
years through AB 1794 (Dutra), Chapter 414, Statutes of 2004.
The Fund provided approximately $1.5 million per year for 10
years for SCI research in California. The Roman Reed Act
funds were allocated to UC, and administered by the
Reeve-Irvine Research Center at UC Irvine. According to the
author, between 2000 and 2009, over 300 scientists, technical
staff, and students participated in 129 Roman Reed Research
projects and $15.1 million in state contributions to the Roman
Reed Fund leveraged $84 million in non-state funds, such as
from National Institutes of Health.
The Roman Reed Program has three components: a) research grants
to promote innovative, high-impact research projects focusing
on SCI or nerve cell regeneration. Principal Investigators
must be from institutions within California; b) the Roman Reed
Core Laboratory which provides a means for investigators who
are new to the field of SCI research to launch novel research
projects and obtain training in SCI research techniques. The
main purpose of the Core Laboratory is to support experiments
by scientists with novel ideas, but who are not yet directly
engaged in SCI research in their own labs; and, c) an annual
meeting fostering collaboration and communication throughout
California, both for scientists and the lay public.
AB 714 | Page
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3.Prior legislation.
a. AB 1657 (Wieckowski) of 2012 would have added an
additional penalty assessment of $1 to every fine,
penalty, or forfeiture deposit imposed by any court on
violations of specified Vehicle Code sections or local
ordinance adopted pursuant to the Vehicle Code. AB 1657
was vetoed by Governor Brown. In his veto message, the
Governor stated that SCI research is certainly
worthwhile, but the funding method chosen is not.
Loading more and more costs on traffic tickets has been
too easy a source of new revenue. Fines should be based
on what is reasonable punishment, not on paying for more
general fund activities.
b. AB 190 (Wieckowski) of 2011, proposed an additional
$3 penalty assessment for every violation of the vehicle
code, except parking violations, to provide support to
the SCI research program at UC. AB 190 was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
c. AB 1931 (Torrico), Chapter 457, Statutes of 2010
eliminated the sunset date for the Roman Reed Act and
specified that the Roman Reed Fund be located at UC,
rather than the State Treasury.
d. AB 1794 (Dutra), Chapter 414, Statutes of 2004
extended the sunset date for the Roman Reed Act to
January 1, 2011, and the sunset date for the Traumatic
Brain Injury pilot project from July 1, 2007 to July 1,
2012.
e. AB 750 (Dutra), Chapter 777, Statutes of 2000
established the Roman Reed Act and created the Roman Reed
Fund.
4.Support. The California Healthcare Institute (CHI), the
statewide public policy association representing the life
sciences sector, writes that since the inception of the Roman
Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999, 68 graduate
students have been funded as Roman Reed Fellows, 175
peer-reviewed articles have been published, and millions of
California dollars have been federally matched bringing
additional research and development dollars back into the
state. Few investments made by the state of California can
boast a nearly five-to-one return ratio matching funds from
AB 714 | Page 4
federal and other grant programs. CHI believes that during
this time of economic difficulty in the state, the opportunity
to continue important neurological research to end producing
viable treatments for spinal cord injuries, while attracting
well-playing biomedical research and funding, is a rare
win-win for the legislature. BayBio writes that the critical
research funded by this bill will go a long way to improve the
quality of life for more than 650,000 Californians living with
paralysis due to a spinal cord injury.
5.Opposition. The California Catholic Conference (CCC) writes in
opposition that this bill indicates that stem cell research
for spinal cord injuries is now a compelling state interest
worthy of a state budget expense. According to CCC, if this
is the case, it would follow that state funds should only
provide for the most efficacious stem cell research, that of
non-embryonic , which has both reportable results and the
support of private venture capital. This bill, according to
the CCC, mirrors the unfortunate policy of spending public
funds on speculative research, when in fact no "cures" have
occurred as a result of embryonic stem cell research under the
auspices of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine
(CIRM), set-up by Proposition 71. The CCC believes that at a
time in which the state of California struggles to find basic
health care funds for its people, particularly those most in
need, it is highly inappropriate to divert public funds to
researchers who have access to private investments and the
CIRM funding.
6.Policy Comment. Considering the cost pressures the GF
currently faces and in light of recent fiscal cuts to health
and social programs, the Committee may wish to consider
whether to elevate funding for spinal cord injuries over other
injuries or chronic health conditions experienced by
Californians.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION :
Support: Americans for Cures Foundation (sponsor)
BayBio
Californians 4 Cures
California Healthcare Institute
Connect
Gwendolyn Strong Foundation
Missouri Cures
Neural Stem Cell Institute
Standard University Medical Center
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StemCells, Inc
Winner & Mandabach Campaigns
1 individual
Oppose: California Catholic Conference
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