BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 836 (Corbett) - Cal-BRAIN Act of 2014
Amended: May 13, 2014 Policy Vote: Education
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 23, 2014 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
SUSPENSE FILE. AS AMENDED.
Bill Summary: SB 836 requests the University of California (UC)
to establish the California Blueprint for Research to Advance
Innovations in Neuroscience Act of 2014 or the "Cal-BRAIN
program," as specified.
Fiscal Impact (as approved on May 23, 2014): Approximately $200
million (General Fund) over four years for the UC to establish
the Cal-BRAIN program. Substantial ongoing state costs,
potentially offset to an unknown degree by federal and private
funds.
Background: The California Constitution establishes the UC, a
public trust to be administered by the Regents of the UC, and
grants the Regents full powers of organization and government,
subject only to such legislative control as may be necessary to
ensure security of its funds, compliance with the terms of its
endowments, statutory requirements around competitive bidding
and contracts, sales of property and the purchase of materials,
goods and services.
(Article IX, Section (9) (a) of the California Constitution)
Existing law further provides that statutes related to UC are
applicable only to the extent that the Regents of UC make such
provisions applicable. (Education Code � 67400)
In 2013, the Obama administration unveiled the Brain Research
through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN)
Initiative, which is a collaborative project that will map the
activity of the human brain with a proposed investment of up to
$3 billion over ten years. For federal fiscal year 2014,
approximately $100 million is being identified for allocation
toward this endeavor with the National Institutes of Health
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(NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) working in close
collaboration.
Proposed Law: This bill requests the UC to establish the
Cal-BRAIN program to leverage California's research assets and
the federal BRAIN Initiative funding opportunities to accelerate
the development of brain mapping techniques. This bill
identifies goals for the Cal-BRAIN program, and requests that
the UC administer the Cal-BRAIN program consistent with all of
the following:
1) Convening stakeholders from public and private research
institutions, biotechnology and high technology companies,
and venture capital firms to develop the governing
structure of the Cal-BRAIN program.
2) Adopting a research plan that identifies milestones for
achieving the goals of the Cal-BRAIN program.
3) Establishing competitive, merit-based opportunities for
interested public and private California research
institutions to apply for Cal-BRAIN program funding.
4) Maintaining the flexibility to adjust the Cal-BRAIN
program's priorities and focus based upon knowledge gained
from scientific discoveries.
5) Establishing a technology transfer program to identify
and accelerate the commercial application of both early and
late-stage discoveries and technologies from the Cal-BRAIN
program into the marketplace and to promote new and
expanded technology sectors in the state.
6) Soliciting contributions to the Cal-BRAIN program with a
goal of achieving a nonstate funding match that meets or
exceeds the financial investment by the state.
This bill specifies that it shall be implemented only to the
extent that adequate funding for its purposes, as determined by
the UC Regents, is appropriated to the UC in the annual Budget
Act or other statute.
Staff Comments: This bill only goes into effect when, and to the
extent that "adequate funding for its purposes, as determined by
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the Regents of the UC, is appropriated to the UC in the annual
Budget Act or other statute." However, placing the Cal-BRAIN
program in statute creates cost pressure to fund it, and to do
so at the level that the UC believes is sufficient.
The UC envisions Cal-BRAIN as a research program with two hubs:
one in southern California located at UC San Diego and the other
in northern California located at the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory. The UC estimates that establishing the Cal-BRAIN
program will cost $200 million in state funding over 4 years, of
which $100 million will go to the northern hub and $100 million
to the southern hub. The funding would support collaborative
research projects statewide, open to all California research
institutions that can contribute expertise, and would be used to
leverage private sector (venture capital) investment,
philanthropic contributions, and any available federal funds.
Author's amendments: Made clarifying modifications to the
structure of the Cal-BRAIN program, and other technical changes.