Bill Text: NJ SJR21 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Designates July 20 of each year as "Emma's Day" to raise awareness of lysosomal storage disorders.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-06-16 - Reported from Senate Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading [SJR21 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-SJR21-Amended.html
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
No. 21
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
216th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED JANUARY 30, 2014
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
Senator DAWN MARIE ADDIEGO
District 8 (Atlantic, Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Designates July 20 of each year as "Emma's Day" to raise awareness of lysosomal storage disorders.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on June 16, 2014, with amendments.
A Joint Resolution designating July 20 of each year as "Emma's Day" to raise awareness of lysosomal storage disorders.
Whereas, Lysomes are minute bodies within cells that convert lipids, sugars, and proteins into smaller components to provide energy for the body, and lysosomal storage disorders result from material accumulating within cells; and
Whereas, There are more than 40 types of lysosomal storage disorders, including Krabbe disease, Tay-Sachs disease, Gaucher disease, and Pompe disease; and
Whereas, Lysosomal storage disorders are rare, inherited, and primarily affect children; and
Whereas, Many children with lysosomal storage disorders die within a few months or years of birth, after suffering from symptoms which include (depending on the particular disorder) developmental delays, movement disorders, seizures, dementia, deafness, blindness, enlarged livers or spleens, bones that grow abnormally, and pulmonary and cardiac problems; and
Whereas, Emma Daniels, was born in New Jersey in 2009 and diagnosed with Krabbe disease, a lysosomal storage disorder which most often affects infants before six months of age, and for which no cure yet exists; and
Whereas, Research is underway to find reliable cures and treatments for lysosomal storage disorders, and it is appropriate to raise awareness of these disorders and of the need for newborn screening and effective treatments; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. July 20 of each year is designated as "Emma's Day" in the State of New Jersey.
2. The Department of Health 1[and Senior Services]1 and all other public and private entities entrusted with the health of the citizens of this State are urged to observe this day with appropriate activities to increase public awareness of lysosomal storage disorders.
3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.
