| TO: | Honorable Jane Nelson, Chair, Senate Committee on Health & Human Services |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB73 by Nelson (Relating to the establishment of an adult stem cell research program.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
The bill would establish the Texas Adult Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee comprised of members representing the Higher Education Coordinating Board, Health and Human Services Commission, and professional members with special training and interest in the field. The Governor would appoint five of the professional members, two of whom must be selected from a list of candidates prepared by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Lieutenant Governor shall appoint two of the professional members. The research oversight committee would establish the Texas Adult Stem Cell Research Consortium. The consortium would include participating institutions of higher education that: (a) accept public money for adult stem cell research; or (b) otherwise agree to participate in the consortium; and umbilical cord blood banks as specified in the bill
The research oversight committee would make grants and loans on a competitive peer review basis to consortium participants for research projects including adult stem cells, including the commercialization of products or technology, support consortium participants in all stages of the process of developing treatments and cures based on adult stem cell research and establish regulatory standards. Under provisions of the bill, the program could be funded by gifts, grants and donations solicited by the consortium from any public or private source for the purpose of promoting adult stem cell commercialization or mult-institutional, multi-investigator research projects. The Higher Education Coordinating Board would provide administrative support and resources necessary for the research oversight committee to perform its duties.
Since the bill specifies that the program would be funded by gifts, grants and donations, for purposes of this fiscal note it is assumed any costs associated with the bill would not be covered by state appropriations. Therefore there would be no fiscal impact to the state. The amount of grants awarded would be dependent on the amount of gifts, grants or donations received by the research oversight committee.
| Source Agencies: | 710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 758 Texas State University System, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board, 783 University of Houston System Administration
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, CL, RT, GO
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