(1) Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health within the California Health and Human Services Agency. Existing law requires the department to, among other things, administer various grant programs, including programs to make funds available for public health-related research projects such as agricultural pest control research.
This bill would require the department to establish a grant program to further research into Parkinson's disease. The bill would require the program to provide competitive grants to universities, research institutions, and medical centers, and prioritize research into therapies and projects aimed at finding a cure to the disease, as well as programs that support individuals living with Parkinson's disease. The bill would establish the California Parkinson's Disease Research Fund to provide funding for these grants upon appropriation by the Legislature.
(2) Existing law allows an individual taxpayer to contribute amounts in excess of their personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds and accounts, including, among others, to the California Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia Research Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund.
This bill would also allow an individual to designate on their tax return that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the continuously appropriated Parkinson's Disease Research Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, which would be created by this bill. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to revise the tax return form to include a space for the designation of contributions to the fund when another voluntary designation is removed from the form or there is space, whichever occurs first. By establishing a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.