Amended in Assembly August 14, 2014

Amended in Assembly June 9, 2014

Amended in Senate May 19, 2014

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 104

Introduced by Senator Huff

(Coauthor: Senator Gaines)

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

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April 1, 2014

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 104—Relative to Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 104, as amended, Huff. Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week.

This measure would declare the third week of September 2014, and the third week of September in each subsequent year, as Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Few people know of mitochondrial disease, yet
every 30 minutes a child is born who will develop this disease by
10 years of age; and

WHEREAS, There is no cure for mitochondrial disease; and

WHEREAS, Mitochondrial disease is often misdiagnosed; and

WHEREAS, Mitochondrial disease occurs when mitochondria
inside of cells, responsible for creating more than 90 percent of
the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth,
fail to carry out their primary functions; and

WHEREAS, When mitochondria fail, less and less energy is
generated within the cell; and

WHEREAS, If this process is repeated throughout the body,
whole systems begin to fail, and the life of the person in whom
this is happening is severely compromised; and

WHEREAS, The disease primarily affects children; and

WHEREAS, Diseases of the mitochondria appear to cause the
most damage to cells of the brain, heart, liver, skeletal muscles,
kidneys, and the endocrine and respiratory systems; and

WHEREAS, Common symptoms include muscle weakness and
pain, gastrointestinal disorders, poor growth, cardiac disease, liver
disease, diabetes, respiratory problems, seizures, visual and hearing
problems, and susceptibility to infection; and

WHEREAS, Because so little is known about the disease, there
are only a few hospitals in the world that offer treatment, causing
affected families to travel regularly or even relocate to receive
treatment; and

WHEREAS, Mitochondrial disease is progressive, likely
terminal, and requires a high level of care and extremely expensive
medical treatment that often exceeds covered insurance benefits,
creating great financial burdens on affected families; and

WHEREAS, The third week of September is observed globally
as Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature does hereby proclaim the
third week of September 2014, and the third week of September
each subsequent year, as Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.