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House Health Committee advances bill to create state neurodegenerative disease research program
Summary
The House Health Committee voted to report House Bill 704, which would establish a neurodegenerative disease research program and a dedicated fund in the state treasury, after agreeing to an amendment that limits indirect costs and narrows eligible grantees.
At a House Health Committee meeting, members voted to report House Bill 704 (printer's number 1437) out of committee as amended. The bill would establish a neurodegenerative disease research program within the Department of Health and create a research program fund in the state treasury to accept and allocate funds to the program.
The amendment, A00684, introduced by Representative Rossi and summarized by committee staff, requires that institutions receiving grants be academic clinical medical centers, permits recipients to also accept funds from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and caps indirect (overhead) costs at 10% of the grant award. The amendment also sets the reporting schedule: annual reports beginning Dec. 31 in the year after the bill’s effective date, to be submitted to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the House Health Committee. Mike, a committee staff member, said the amendment is “agreed to” by the bill sponsors.
Representative Mullins, a prime sponsor, described the bill as creating “the framework for whatever funding is able to be appropriated for neurodegenerative disease research.” Mullins said the measure is intended to supplement philanthropic, institutional and federal funding streams by adding a state funding component and highlighted personal experience with the diseases: he said his father was diagnosed with ALS in 2020 and died about two and a half years later. “What we’re moving today … represents hope,” Mullins said.
Representative Rossi described A00684 as technical and asked members for an affirmative vote. Other committee members spoke in support of the bill, noting constituent impacts and the goal of sustaining research into illnesses such as ALS, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The committee chair asked whether there was any opposition; none was recorded.
The committee agreed to the amendment and reported House Bill 704 affirmatively from committee. The meeting record shows no negative votes on the amended bill. The bill’s text, funding level, and any appropriation amounts were not specified in the committee discussion.
After the vote, the committee moved on to a package of noncontroversial resolutions and adjourned to reconvene shortly for an informational meeting with the Committee on Aging and Older Adult Services on the registered nurse aide program.
