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House Bill Would Cut Money For Byrd Center By Half

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 4, 2007

Updated: 10/04/2007 01:11 am

TALLAHASSEE - The first day of the legislative session could have been worse for the Byrd Alzheimer's research center, which a state Senate panel opted to spare from heavy funding cuts.

But the battle over the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute is far from over, with House leaders proposing to chop the center's $15 million annual appropriation in half.

The state Department of Elder Affairs and Gov. Charlie Crist had proposed shaving the center's yearly earmark down to $5 million this year. That prompted outcry from leaders of the center, which just held a grand opening last month and is preparing to recruit new researchers.

On Wednesday, the Senate's health appropriations committee voted to cut the Byrd center's dollars by just $1.5 million, starting this year.

'I think the Legislature is focused on the issue of Alzheimer's,' said Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations chairman Durell Peaden, R-Crestview.

'I think ... the consensus will be that the institute, as such, needs to be preserved. It's a huge issue as far as training physicians, research and development, and future funding for fellows and research,' Peaden said.

In the House, a legislative council votes today on a bill that would deny the Byrd center $7.5 million from now on. Healthcare Council chairman Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, said the cut is a choice between research and patients who need services.

'They can still move forward,' Bean said of the center. 'It may be moving forward slower than they wanted to move forward. It's research. Do we cut research, or do we cut a direct recipient of service that's receiving kidney dialysis?'

The milder Senate plan came as a relief to the Byrd center's leaders, spokeswoman Melanie Meyer said. But the House plan would damage the center's ability to recruit researchers and would hamper efforts to complete its lab facilities, she said.

'Cutting half of the budget, for a young institute that's really just beginning to hit the ground - it's very damaging,' Meyer said.

Both Bean and Peaden are interested in transferring authority over the Byrd center to the University of South Florida. The proposal comes at the behest of former House Speaker Johnnie Byrd himself, who shepherded the center's creation in memory of his late father.

Leaders at the Byrd center say the funding stability that could result from merging with USF could be beneficial, provided that the center retains sufficient autonomy. Bean and Peaden said that proposal probably will wait until next year.

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382 or cdolinski@tampatrib.com.

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