BILL NUMBER: SCR 43INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Strickland APRIL 28, 2011 Relative to spinal muscular atrophy. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 43, as introduced, Strickland. Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month. This bill would declare August 2011, and each August thereafter, as Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) kills more children than any other genetic disease; and WHEREAS, SMA causes degeneration in voluntary muscle movement for those impacted by the disease, eventually impacting the ability to walk, sit, crawl, stand, breathe, eat, and even swallow; and WHEREAS, One in every 40 people, or nearly 10 million Americans, unknowingly carries the gene responsible for SMA. Few have any known family history; and WHEREAS, SMA is a pan-ethnic disease that does not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, or gender; and WHEREAS, SMA does not impact the mind. Children with SMA are bright, sensitive, and playful in spite of their failing bodies; and WHEREAS, Most children impacted by SMA succumb to the disease before their second birthday; and WHEREAS, There is currently no treatment and no cure for SMA, but the National Institutes of Health (NIH) selected SMA as the disease closest to treatment of more than 600 neurological disorders; and WHEREAS, The nation's leading researchers signed a statement stressing that, with adequate resources, a viable treatment or cure is attainable in as little as five years; and WHEREAS, SMA research is considered a "model" approach, with the potential of benefiting millions of people impacted by other diseases, including ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease, Alzheimer's, Parkinson' s, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Fragile X, and Tay Sachs, among others; and WHEREAS, Increased awareness of SMA will lead to increased knowledge and increased support for both disease research and families affected by the disease, hopefully leading to a cure; and WHEREAS, August has been declared as National Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month in order to raise awareness and help promote research into this devastating disease; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature declares the month of August 2011, and each month of August thereafter, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.