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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
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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 includ e 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
15
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of sec tion 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 s hall consist 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 Cance r 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 subsect ion (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 biome dical research 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 participatin g cancer centers. 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 al location fraction 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 based on activities in this 59
state: number of reportable cases, peer -review costs, and 60
biomedical education and training. As used in this section, the 61
term: 62
(b) "Cancer center" means a comprehensive center with at 63
least one geographic site in the state, a freestanding center 64
located in the state , a center situated within an academic 65
institution, or a Florida-based formal research-based consortium 66
under centralized leadership that has achieved NCI designation 67
or is prepared to achieve NCI designation by June 30, 2024 July 68
1, 2019. 69
(4) Tier designations and corresponding wei ghts within the 70
Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program are as follows: 71
(a) Tier 1: Florida-based NCI-designated comprehensive 72
cancer centers, which shall be weighted at 1.5. 73
(b) Tier 2: Florida-based NCI-designated cancer centers, 74
which shall be weight ed at 1.25. 75
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(c) Tier 3: Florida-based Cancer centers seeking 76
designation as either a NCI -designated cancer center or NCI -77
designated comprehensive cancer center, which shall be weighted 78
at 1.0. 79
1. A cancer center shall meet the following minimum 80
criteria to be considered eligible for Tier 3 designation in any 81
given fiscal year: 82
a. Conducting cancer -related basic scientific research and 83
cancer-related population scientific research; 84
b. Offering and providing the full range of diagnostic and 85
treatment services on site, as determined by the Commission on 86
Cancer of the American College of Surgeons; 87
c. Hosting or conducting cancer -related interventional 88
clinical trials that are registered with the NCI's Clinical 89
Trials Reporting Program; 90
d. Offering degree-granting programs or affiliating with 91
universities through degree -granting programs accredited or 92
approved by a nationally recognized agency and offered through 93
the center or through the center in conjunction with another 94
institution accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the 95
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; 96
e. Providing training to clinical trainees, medical 97
trainees accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate 98
Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Associatio n, and 99
postdoctoral fellows recently awarded a doctorate degree; and 100
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f. Having more than $5 million in annual direct costs 101
associated with their total NCI peer -reviewed grant funding. 102
2. The General Appropriations Act or accompanying 103
legislation may limit the number of cancer centers which shall 104
receive Tier 3 designations or provide additional criteria for 105
such designation. 106
3. A cancer center's participation in Tier 3 may not 107
extend beyond June 30, 2024. 108
4. A cancer center that qualifies as a desig nated Tier 3 109
center under the criteria provided in subparagraph 1. by July 1, 110
2014, is authorized to pursue NCI designation as a cancer center 111
or a comprehensive cancer center until June 30, 2024. 112
(7) The amount of $37,771,257 from the total funds 113
appropriated in the General Appropriations Act for the Casey 114
DeSantis Cancer Research Program shall be excluded from the 115
annual allocation fraction calculation under subsection (5). The 116
excluded amount shall be distributed to participating cancer 117
centers in the same proportion as determined by the allocation 118
fraction calculation. 119
(8)(7) Beginning July 1, 2017, and every 3 years 120
thereafter, the department, in conjunction with participating 121
cancer centers, shall submit a report to the Cancer Control and 122
Research Advisory Council on specific metrics relating to cancer 123
mortality and external funding for cancer -related research in 124
the state. If a cancer center does not endorse this report or 125
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produce an equivalent independent report, the cancer center 126
shall be suspended from the program for 1 year. The report must 127
include: 128
(a) An analysis of trending age -adjusted cancer mortality 129
rates in the state, which must include, at a minimum, overall 130
age-adjusted mortality rates for cancer statewide and age -131
adjusted mortality rates by age group, geographic region, and 132
type of cancer, which must include, at a minimum: 133
1. Lung cancer. 134
2. Pancreatic cancer. 135
3. Sarcoma. 136
4. Melanoma. 137
5. Leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. 138
6. Brain cancer. 139
7. Breast cancer. 140
Section 3. Subsection (4) of section 381.922, Florida 141
Statutes, is amended to read: 142
381.922 William G. "Bill" Bankhead, Jr., and David Coley 143
Cancer Research Program. — 144
(4) In order to attract and retain experienced research 145
talent and attendant national gra nt-producing researchers to 146
integrated cancer research and care institutions in this state, 147
the Department of Health shall award endowments to integrated 148
cancer research and care institutions for establishing a funded 149
research chair, pursuant to the Genera l Appropriations Act, 150
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specifying an appropriation for this purpose. Funding for the 151
endowed chairs must be independent of funds appropriated 152
pursuant to s. 215.5602(12). The purpose of the endowment is to 153
provide secure funding for at least 7 years to attr act an 154
experienced and promising researcher whose continued employment 155
for this period is not contingent upon grant awards associated 156
with time-limited research projects. In addition, the 157
Legislature intends for a research chair to specialize in a 158
cancer-related research field that will facilitate coordination 159
among research institutions within the state and attract other 160
promising researchers and funding to the state. 161
(a) Upon selection of an endowed research chair, the 162
institution shall notify the chair s of the appropriations 163
committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives. An 164
institution funded pursuant to this subsection shall provide to 165
the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of 166
the House of Representatives an annual progr ess report by 167
December 15 that must, at a minimum, provide the research 168
chair's name; the amount of the endowment fund used for the 169
chair's salary; research responsibilities; the percentage of 170
time devoted to research if the chair also serves as a member o f 171
the faculty; research progress; progress toward achieving the 172
goals of this program; endowment expenditures; balance, interest 173
rate, and interest earned on the endowment; and the amount of 174
federal or private grants or donations generated, if any, as a 175
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result of the research chair's efforts. 176
(b) If an institution must replace an endowed research 177
chair, the endowment must cease funding expenses associated with 178
the endowed research chair, other than reasonable costs for 179
recruitment, until a replacement cha ir has been retained. While 180
the endowed research chair is vacant, the endowment must 181
continue to earn interest and all earnings must be added to the 182
balance of the endowment. A vacancy tolls the 7 -year timeframe 183
for the endowed research chair. 184
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 185