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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to biomedical research; amending s. 2
20.435, F.S.; expanding the uses of the Biomedical 3
Research Trust Fund; amending s. 381.915, F.S.; 4
revising a definition; authorizing a specified amount 5
from the total appropriated funds for the Casey 6
DeSantis Cancer Research Program to be distributed to 7
participating cancer centers; requiring a report for 8
specified statewide cancer statistics to include 9
breast cancer; amending s. 381.922, F.S.; removing a 10
certain award of an endowment for a specified program; 11
providing an effective date. 12
13
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14
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Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of section 16
20.435, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 17
20.435 Department of Health; trust funds. —The following 18
trust funds shall be administered by the Department of Health: 19
(7) Biomedical Research Trust Fund. 20
(a) Funds to be credited to the trust fund shall consi st 21
of funds appropriated by the Legislature. Funds shall be used 22
for the purposes of the James and Esther King Biomedical 23
Research Program, the Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program, 24
and the William G. "Bill" Bankhead, Jr., and David Coley Cancer 25
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Research Program as specified in ss. 215.5602, 288.955, 381.915, 26
and 381.922, and other cancer research initiatives as 27
appropriated by the Legislature . The trust fund is exempt from 28
the service charges imposed by s. 215.20. 29
Section 2. Subsections (7), (8), and (9) of section 30
381.915, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (8), 31
(9), and (10), respectively, subsection (2), paragraph (b) of 32
subsection (3), subsection (4), and paragraph (a) of present 33
subsection (7) are amended, and a new subsection (7) is added to 34
that section, to read: 35
381.915 Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program. — 36
(2) The Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program is 37
established to enhance the quality and competitiveness of cancer 38
care in this state, further a statewide biomedical rese arch 39
strategy directly responsive to the health needs of Florida's 40
citizens, and capitalize on the potential educational 41
opportunities available to its students. The department shall 42
make payments to Florida-based cancer centers recognized by the 43
National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of 44
Health as NCI-designated cancer centers or NCI -designated 45
comprehensive cancer centers, and cancer centers working toward 46
achieving NCI designation. The department shall distribute funds 47
to participating cancer centers on a quarterly basis during each 48
fiscal year for which an appropriation is made. 49
(3) On or before September 15 of each year, the department 50
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shall calculate an allocation fraction to be used for 51
distributing funds to participating cancer c enters. On or before 52
the final business day of each quarter of the state fiscal year, 53
the department shall distribute to each participating cancer 54
center one-fourth of that cancer center's annual allocation 55
calculated under subsection (6). The allocation f raction for 56
each participating cancer center is based on the cancer center's 57
tier-designated weight under subsection (4) multiplied by each 58
of the following allocation factors: number of reportable cases, 59
peer-review costs, and biomedical education and tra ining. As 60
used in this section, the term: 61
(b) "Cancer center" means a comprehensive center with at 62
least one geographic site in the state, a freestanding center 63
located in the state , a center situated within an academic 64
institution, or a Florida-based formal research-based consortium 65
under centralized leadership that has achieved NCI designation 66
or is prepared to achieve NCI designation by June 30, 2024 July 67
1, 2019. 68
(4) Tier designations and corresponding weights within the 69
Casey DeSantis Cancer Resear ch Program are as follows: 70
(a) Tier 1: Florida-based NCI-designated comprehensive 71
cancer centers, which shall be weighted at 1.5. 72
(b) Tier 2: Florida-based NCI-designated cancer centers, 73
which shall be weighted at 1.25. 74
(c) Tier 3: Florida-based Cancer centers seeking 75
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designation as either a NCI -designated cancer center or NCI -76
designated comprehensive cancer center, which shall be weighted 77
at 1.0. 78
1. A cancer center shall meet the following minimum 79
criteria to be considered eligible for Tier 3 designation in any 80
given fiscal year: 81
a. Conducting cancer -related basic scientific research and 82
cancer-related population scientific research; 83
b. Offering and providing the full range of diagnostic and 84
treatment services on site, as determined by the Commission on 85
Cancer of the American College of Surgeons; 86
c. Hosting or conducting cancer -related interventional 87
clinical trials that are registered with the NCI's Clinical 88
Trials Reporting Program; 89
d. Offering degree-granting programs or affiliating w ith 90
universities through degree -granting programs accredited or 91
approved by a nationally recognized agency and offered through 92
the center or through the center in conjunction with another 93
institution accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the 94
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; 95
e. Providing training to clinical trainees, medical 96
trainees accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate 97
Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Association, and 98
postdoctoral fellows recently awarded a doctorate degree; and 99
f. Having more than $5 million in annual direct costs 100
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associated with their total NCI peer -reviewed grant funding. 101
2. The General Appropriations Act or accompanying 102
legislation may limit the number of cancer centers which shall 103
receive Tier 3 designations or provide additional criteria for 104
such designation. 105
3. A cancer center's participation in Tier 3 may not 106
extend beyond June 30, 2024. 107
4. A cancer center that qualifies as a designated Tier 3 108
center under the criteria provide d in subparagraph 1. by July 1, 109
2014, is authorized to pursue NCI designation as a cancer center 110
or a comprehensive cancer center until June 30, 2024. 111
(7) The amount of $37,771,257 from the total funds 112
appropriated in the General Appropriations Act for t he Casey 113
DeSantis Cancer Research Program shall be excluded from the 114
annual allocation fraction calculation under subsection (5). The 115
excluded amount shall be distributed to participating cancer 116
centers in the same proportion as determined by the allocatio n 117
fraction calculation. 118
(8)(7) Beginning July 1, 2017, and every 3 years 119
thereafter, the department, in conjunction with participating 120
cancer centers, shall submit a report to the Cancer Control and 121
Research Advisory Council on specific metrics relating to cancer 122
mortality and external funding for cancer -related research in 123
the state. If a cancer center does not endorse this report or 124
produce an equivalent independent report, the cancer center 125
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shall be suspended from the program for 1 year. The report mus t 126
include: 127
(a) An analysis of trending age -adjusted cancer mortality 128
rates in the state, which must include, at a minimum, overall 129
age-adjusted mortality rates for cancer statewide and age -130
adjusted mortality rates by age group, geographic region, and 131
type of cancer, which must include, at a minimum: 132
1. Lung cancer. 133
2. Pancreatic cancer. 134
3. Sarcoma. 135
4. Melanoma. 136
5. Leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. 137
6. Brain cancer. 138
7. Breast cancer. 139
Section 3. Subsection (4) of section 381.922, Flor ida 140
Statutes, is amended to read: 141
381.922 William G. "Bill" Bankhead, Jr., and David Coley 142
Cancer Research Program. — 143
(4) In order to attract and retain experienced research 144
talent and attendant national grant -producing researchers to 145
integrated cancer research and care institutions in this state, 146
the Department of Health shall award endowments to integrated 147
cancer research and care institutions for establishing a funded 148
research chair, pursuant to the General Appropriations Act, 149
specifying an appropriat ion for this purpose. Funding for the 150
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endowed chairs must be independent of funds appropriated 151
pursuant to s. 215.5602(12). The purpose of the endowment is to 152
provide secure funding for at least 7 years to attract an 153
experienced and promising researcher wh ose continued employment 154
for this period is not contingent upon grant awards associated 155
with time-limited research projects. In addition, the 156
Legislature intends for a research chair to specialize in a 157
cancer-related research field that will facilitate coo rdination 158
among research institutions within the state and attract other 159
promising researchers and funding to the state. 160
(a) Upon selection of an endowed research chair, the 161
institution shall notify the chairs of the appropriations 162
committees of the Sena te and the House of Representatives. An 163
institution funded pursuant to this subsection shall provide to 164
the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of 165
the House of Representatives an annual progress report by 166
December 15 that must, at a mini mum, provide the research 167
chair's name; the amount of the endowment fund used for the 168
chair's salary; research responsibilities; the percentage of 169
time devoted to research if the chair also serves as a member of 170
the faculty; research progress; progress tow ard achieving the 171
goals of this program; endowment expenditures; balance, interest 172
rate, and interest earned on the endowment; and the amount of 173
federal or private grants or donations generated, if any, as a 174
result of the research chair's efforts. 175
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(b) If an institution must replace an endowed research 176
chair, the endowment must cease funding expenses associated with 177
the endowed research chair, other than reasonable costs for 178
recruitment, until a replacement chair has been retained. While 179
the endowed research chair is vacant, the endowment must 180
continue to earn interest and all earnings must be added to the 181
balance of the endowment. A vacancy tolls the 7 -year timeframe 182
for the endowed research chair. 183
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 184