SACRAMENTO   – The Assembly has approved AB 394, a bill authored by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-Davis) and Assemblymember Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), extending the sunset date for the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Research Fund income tax check-off through 2020.

The bill passed from the Assembly Floor with strong bipartisan support.

Assemblymember Yamada, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care, said the decision to jointly author the bill with Assemblymember Grove reflects their shared experience of caring for an aging parent.

“I took care of my mother for 23 years,” Yamada said. “When I learned that Assemblymember Grove, a member of the Aging and Long-Term Care Committee, currently manages her mother’s care as she lives with Alzheimer’s, I immediately asked her to be my joint author.”

Alzheimer’s disease is now the sixth leading cause of death in California and is the only leading cause of death that lacks a means of prevention or reversal.

The California Department of Public Health reports that one in 10 Californians 55 and over are living with Alzheimer’s disease.

“There are questions about why the government picks winners and losers among the many serious diseases that deserve research,” Assemblymember Grove said. “But Alzheimer’s will hit almost every one of us – either through a parent, a sibling or ourselves.”

Since the voluntary contribution check-off for the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Research Fund first appeared on state income tax forms in 1987, more than 1.3 million California taxpayers have donated more than $11.3 million.

The funds are distributed to Alzheimer’s researchers in California through a competitive grant process.

AB 394 will now head for consideration in the Senate.