BILL REQ. #:  H-4478.1 

Read first time 01/24/2006.   Referred to Committee on Technology, Energy & Communications.

     AN ACT Relating to grants awarded by the life sciences discovery authority; and amending RCW 43.350.030.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 43.350.030 and 2005 c 424 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) In addition to other powers and duties prescribed in this chapter, the authority is empowered to:
     (((1))) (a) Use public moneys in the life sciences discovery fund, leveraging those moneys with amounts received from other public and private sources in accordance with contribution agreements, to promote life sciences research;
     (((2))) (b) Solicit and receive gifts, grants, and bequests, and enter into contribution agreements with private entities and public entities other than the state to receive moneys in consideration of the authority's promise to leverage those moneys with amounts received through appropriations from the legislature and contributions from other public entities and private entities, in order to use those moneys to promote life sciences research. Nonstate moneys received by the authority for this purpose shall be deposited in the life sciences discovery fund created in RCW 43.350.070;
     (((3))) (c) Hold funds received by the authority in trust for their use pursuant to this chapter to promote life sciences research;
     (((4))) (d) Manage its funds, obligations, and investments as necessary and as consistent with its purpose including the segregation of revenues into separate funds and accounts;
     (((5))) (e) Make grants to entities pursuant to contract for the promotion of life sciences research to be conducted in the state. Grant agreements shall specify deliverables to be provided by the recipient pursuant to the grant. The authority shall solicit requests for funding and evaluate the requests by reference to factors such as: (((a))) (i) The quality of the proposed research; (((b))) (ii) its potential to improve health outcomes, with particular attention to the likelihood that it will also lower health care costs, substitute for a more costly diagnostic or treatment modality, or offer a breakthrough treatment for a particular disease or condition; (((c))) (iii) its potential for leveraging additional funding; (((d))) (iv) its potential to provide health care benefits or benefit human learning and development; (((e))) (v) its potential to stimulate the health care delivery, biomedical manufacturing, and life sciences related employment in the state; (((f))) (vi) the geographic diversity of the grantees within Washington; (((g))) (vii) evidence of potential royalty income and contractual means to recapture such income for purposes of this chapter; and (((h))) (viii) evidence of public and private collaboration;
     (((6))) (f) Create one or more advisory boards composed of scientists, industrialists, and others familiar with life sciences research; and
     (((7))) (g) Adopt policies and procedures to facilitate the orderly process of grant application, review, and reward.
     (2)(a) The authority is prohibited from awarding any grant for which the grant funding would be used for (i) any research or activity involving human cloning; (ii) induced abortion in humans performed after the effective date of this section or the use of cells or tissues derived therefrom; (iii) knowingly conducting destructive research on a human embryo or transferring a human embryo with the knowledge that such an embryo will be subjected to destructive research or transferring gametes with the knowledge that a human embryo will be produced from the gametes to be used in destructive research; (iv) human-animal hybrids; or (v) any research or activity the federal funding of which would be contrary to federal laws that are in effect on the effective date of this section.
     (b) No recipient of grant funds awarded by the authority may knowingly use such funds for such research or activity prohibited under (a) of this subsection.
     (c) For purposes of this subsection, the following definitions apply:
     (i) "Destructive research" means medical procedures, scientific or laboratory research, or other kinds of investigation that kills or injures the subject of such research. Destructive research does not include in vitro fertilization and accompanying embryo transfer to a woman's body, or any diagnostic procedure that may benefit the human embryo subject to such tests.
     (ii) "Human cloning" means human asexual reproduction, accomplished by introducing nuclear material from one or more human somatic cells into a fertilized or unfertilized oocyte whose nuclear material has been removed or inactivated so as to produce a living organism at any stage of development that is genetically virtually identical to an existing or previously existing human organism.
     (iii) "Human embryo" means a genetically complete living organism of the species homo sapiens, from the single cell stage up to eight weeks development.