Office of Speaker Dennis M. O’Brien

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

139 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        CONTACT:  Bill Patton

                                                                                                                                   717-787-4610

Cancer research support wins extension

HARRISBURG, Aug. 8 – A new law signed by Gov. Ed Rendell includes language sponsored by House Speaker Dennis O’Brien to preserve the state’s optional personal income tax check-off for breast and cervical cancer research.

The check-off allows taxpayers to donate their state tax refunds to a dedicated fund for breast and cervical cancer research. It was set to expire at the end of 2007, but with O’Brien’s language included in Act 55 the cancer research check-off no longer has an expiration date.

“By continuing to let taxpayers donate money in this way, we help ensure that outstanding researchers in Pennsylvania will continue to have a source of additional funding for their work,” O’Brien said. “In many instances, these grants provide necessary seed money for researchers to then obtain larger grants from other sources.”

Created in 1997, the check-off to date raised more than $2 million for research in Pennsylvania. In recent years, it was the most popular check-off option chosen by state taxpayers, with the average donor volunteering about $8.

“It’s customary for income tax check-offs to exist for a few years and then be evaluated,” O’Brien said. “This one has proven so popular, and the money is so vital to advancing cancer research in Pennsylvania, that I wanted to do something to continue this successful program.”

Working with Pat Halpin-Murphy, president and founder of the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition, O’Brien introduced a bill in the spring to extend the cancer research check-off option beyond this year’s scheduled expiration. That language was incorporated into the multifaceted tax code bill which passed in July.

In recognition of O’Brien’s efforts on the legislation and his leadership in cancer advocacy for a number of years, the coalition will present him with its 2007 Pink Ribbon Award at a conference in October.

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