House Panel Backs AIDS Assistance Bill
Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) has announced the unanimous passage of the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Fund Act of 1997 in the House Committee on the Judiciary.
The bill, if approved in the Senate, could become law as early as the summer of 1998.
Gallegly, an original co-sponsor of the measure, said, “The bill is the right thing to do. The measure awards ‘compassionate payments’ to many people with blood-clotting disorders, such as hemophilia, who contracted HIV through tainted blood products.”
The namesake of the bill, Ricky Ray, contracted AIDS as a young man and died as the result of the blood transfusion carrying the HIV virus.
H.R. 1023 would create a fund for people who suffered from blood-clotting disorders and received the human immunodeficiency virus through transfusions during the early years of the AIDS outbreak.
The bill provides $100,000 for each person who qualifies, or a surviving spouse, parent or child. Money to pay for the family assistance would come from upcoming funding bills, said aide Nora Bomar.
The companion bill, S-358, has been introduced in the Senate. Bomar said the Senate will most likely vote on its bill in mid-1998.
Gallegly’s office may be reached locally at 485-2300.
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