BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 836
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 17, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Richard Pan, Chair
SB 836 (Corbett) - As Amended: May 27, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 37-0
SUBJECT : Brain research: Cal-BRAIN program.
SUMMARY : Requests the University of California (UC) to
establish the California Blueprint for Research to Advance
Innovations in Neuroscience Act of 2014 (Cal-BRAIN) program to
leverage California's research assets and the federal Brain
Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies
Initiative (BRAIN Initiative) funding opportunities to
accelerate the development of brain mapping techniques.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Identifies specific goals for the Cal-BRAIN program, including
maintaining California's leadership role in neuroscience
innovation; developing dynamic map of the human brain that
provides researchers, physicians, and engineers with the
knowledge necessary to develop new treatments and technologies
that will improve lives and reduce costs of providing health
care; supporting the state economy through the expansion of
California's high technology and biotechnology sectors; and
training the next generation of scientists for the
neuroscience and engineering jobs of the future.
2)Requests the UC convene stakeholders from public and private
research institutions, national laboratories, biotechnology
and high technology companies, and venture capital firms to
develop a governing structure for the Cal-BRAIN program.
Requires governing structure to:
a) Adopt a research plant to identify milestones and goals;
b) Establish competitive merit-based funding for research
institutions and laboratories;
c) Adjust the Cal-BRAIN program's priorities and focus
based upon knowledge gained from scientific discoveries;
d) Establish a technology transfer program to identify and
accelerate the commercial application of discoveries and
technologies from the Cal-BRAIN program into the
marketplace; and,
e) Solicit contributions to the Cal-BRAIN program with a
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goal of achieving a nonstate funding match that meets or
exceeds the financial investment by the state.
3)Requests the UC to provide information about the Cal-BRAIN
program through an Internet Website, including a brief
description of funded projects and activities.
4)Makes various findings and declarations to support its cause.
EXISTING LAW :
1)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 insure 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.
2)Provides that statutes related to UC (mostly aspects of the
governance and operation of UC) are applicable only to the
extent that the Regents of UC make such provisions applicable.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, if UC chooses to implement, approximately $200
million from the 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.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the Author, the Cal-BRAIN
program is designed to leverage California's assets and
capacity for collaboration, entrepreneurship and innovation,
combined with federal BRAIN Initiative funding, to help
California harness the economic potential of brain mapping
techniques and technologies to create jobs and industries of
the future, while improving lives.
The author further states that this bill is needed to give
legislative direction to the UC Regents about how the program
should be run, who should be eligible to participate, and what
it should accomplish. The author argues that the UC should
use the expertise of our world-renowned public and private
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research institutions and private sector partners to advance
cutting-edge brain mapping research that can reveal the causes
and lead to treatments for brain injuries and disorders, such
as Alzheimer's, autism, multiple sclerosis, ALS, and mental
illness. It can also lead to advancements in artificial
intelligence, robotics, and information technologies, such as
computers and cellphones.
2)BACKGROUND . In 2013, the Obama Administration unveiled the
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 10 years. For federal fiscal year
2014, approximately $100 million is being identified for
allocation toward this endeavor with the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) working
in close collaboration.
3)PREVIOUS MAJOR SCIENTIFIC INITIATIVES . The U.S. government
has initiated and successfully funded major scientific
challenges in the past, such as the development of the Polio
vaccine or sequencing the human genome. During the 13 years
of the Human Genome Project (HGP), an international
public-private partnership, scientists were able to sequence
the entirety of the human genome. This required advanced
technology development and the assembly of an
interdisciplinary team of biologists, physicists, chemists,
computer scientists, mathematicians and engineers. This
initiative was profoundly influential in our understanding of
human biology, but was also a driver of research in renewable
energy development, industrial biotechnology, agricultural
biosciences, environmental science, and other disciplines. An
economic impact report published in 2011 by the Battelle
Memorial Institute found that between 1988-2010, a $3.8
million dollar investment in the HGP by the Federal government
yielded $796 billion in US economic output, $244 billion in
personal income for Americans, and 3.8 million job-years of
employment.
4)SUPPORT . BayBio and Biocom write that, like the HGP, which
mapped the entire human genome and sparked massive investment
into genomic-based diagnostics and therapeutics, the BRAIN
initiative has the potential to open its own new frontiers of
scientific inquiry. The San Diego Brain Injury Foundation
asserts that the financial benefits to the state in the form
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of stimulated economic activity would be a tremendous benefit
to the economy and more than enough to justify the use of
public funds for such an effort.
5)PREVIOUS LEGISLATION . AB 714 (Wieckowski) of 2013 would have
appropriated $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 (Roman Reed Act).
AB 714 was vetoed by Governor Brown vetoed the bill, stating:
"Research is a core mission of the University of
California. As such, it is entirely within the
university system's discretion to fund the Spinal Cord
Research Program, or any other project it deems of
value. For that reason, I have consistently chosen not
to support special earmarks in the University of
California's budget and leave it to the university -
as deeply steeped in innovation and research as it is
- to make funding decisions like this."
6)DOUBLE REFERRAL . This bill is double referred. Upon passage
in this Committee, it will be referred to the Assembly
Committee on Higher Education.
7)POLICY COMMENT: Given that California has an extraordinarily
high concentration of the world's best scientists, several of
whom were architects of the original proposal that gave rise
to the national BRAIN Initiative, and the state is poised to
play a leading role in the national effort. California's
research institutions and businesses are sure to be recipients
of significant federal and private grant money involved in the
BRAIN initiative, with or without the development of the
Cal-BRAIN program. Should the UC choose to ignore this bill,
California is likely to receive significant federal funding.
Conversely, should the UC choose to implement this bill, there
could be great benefit in having a statewide network to
coordinate research efforts, make the most out of funding, and
enhance collaboration between researchers, institutions, and
businesses.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of Regional Center Agencies
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ALS Association, Golden West Chapter
Alzheimer's Association
BayBio
Biocom
California Public Defenders Association
National Women's Political Caucus of California
Neurotechnology Industry Organization
San Diego Brain Injury Foundation
University of California Student Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Dharia McGrew / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097