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Plan Cuts Byrd Center Funding
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Published: March 19, 2008
Updated: 03/18/2008 11:33 pm
TALLAHASSEE - The Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Disease Center & Research Institute will lose $8.5 million of guaranteed funding in 2010 and every year thereafter, if state lawmakers approve a plan to award biomedical research dollars on a purely competitive basis.
Dubbing it the "What Am I Getting For My Money Bill," House Healthcare Council Chairman Aaron Bean revived his plan from last year to pool most of the state's money for biomedical research into a single fund, to be awarded in the form of grants. The proposal would eliminate budget earmarks for entities like the Byrd Institute, which receives $13.5 million annually, and a variety of other state-supported research entities.
Under Bean's plan, which his council passed unanimously Tuesday, researchers of all biomedical specialties would apply for one-year grants, which could be extended up to five years. Researchers would have to "get back in line" and compete for additional funding.
Bean Says Questions Not Asked
Currently, Florida spends more than $165 million on more than two dozen entities that conduct or facilitate biomedical research.
"In many instances, we just give recurring dollars to an entity and say, 'Go get 'em,' but we never ask - if it were our own money, we'd be asking what are we getting for this money, and what did we get for the money we gave last year," said Bean, R-Fernandina Beach. "I believe there's a better way."
Bean's plan ran afoul of politics last year, as legislators in both chambers rose to preserve funding dedicated to favored entities including Tampa's Byrd Institute and H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, both named for former House speakers.
This year's bill could minimize the backlash.
It would award the state's research money through the James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program, established for Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, which already administers grants on a peer-reviewed competitive basis.
Bean's plan would also allow the William G. Bankhead and David Coley Cancer Research Program to remain a separate entity through 2011, when its annual $9 million state earmark sunsets.
Last spring, Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna, spoke tearfully on the House floor about the research program established partly in the name of her late husband, former Sen. David Coley. Bean and Coley worked together on this year's version, which will designate all state cancer grants as Bankhead-Coley grants once the standalone Bankhead-Coley program ends.
Moffitt Cancer Center Safe
This year's proposal also leaves alone the Moffitt Cancer Center and its various appropriations - at least for now, said Bean, who acknowledged after the meeting that his plan gives special treatment to some entities.
"I still have to sell these ideas," he said. "If I have to make exceptions to make baby steps toward turning the ship in that direction, then I'll do it."
The Byrd Institute does not receive such treatment. The bill explicitly chops the Byrd's annual appropriation from $13.5 million down to $5 million.
With that kind of cut, Byrd Institute lobbyist Melanie Meyer said, the institution will be severely limited with a narrower, less creative focus.
"We're still trying to build a critical mass of researchers, and it's a pretty small pool of people that do Alzheimer's at the top level," she said. "They're going to go to other states."
Meyer said it's hard to see the differing treatment of various research entities under Bean's plan as anything but political..
For years, the institute has suffered from controversy over its fiscal management, prompting calls from lawmakers for greater oversight and accountability. Those issues might factor into the Byrd Institute's precarious situation. While Bean seeks to slash the Byrd's earmark, the Senate is trying to merge the Byrd Center with the University of South Florida.
Bean said the House is still evaluating the USF plan from Sens. Durell Peaden, R-Crestview, and Charlie Justice, D-Tampa. The plan will be heard today in a Senate committee.
Meyer said the USF plan would only further jeopardize the Byrd Institute. "The original argument was, 'Come to USF, be in our budget and you will be protected.' But USF is taking many, many hits. They took a million-dollar hit during the special session" last fall.
While the Moffitt Cancer Center will remain a standalone entity, its earmarks are by no means secure, either. Last week, a Senate panel voted to renew a $10 million annual allocation for Moffitt that is set to expire this year. But King, a former Senate president, warned the proposal may fail due to budget pressures.
Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382 or cdolinski@tampatrib.com.
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