MORRIS COUNTY – With the help of Grace Eline, a Morris County brain tumor survivor, Assemblyman Anthony M. Bucco is pushing legislation to allow New Jersey residents to make donations to childhood cancer research on their tax return forms.
“I think we need to spend more time focusing on pediatric cancer because we have a lot of kids out there that need to have some hope,” said Bucco (R-Morris).
Several childhood cancer survivors, including 10-year-old Eline who was recognized by President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address in February, joined Bucco in Trenton to discuss getting the bill (A-894) through the Statehouse and onto the governor’s desk. The bill would create a donation check-off box on state income tax forms to benefit a newly established Pediatric Cancer Research Fund that would support projects approved by the New Jersey State Commission on Cancer Research.
“Only four percent of the research is for kids and I think that kids are definitely worth more than four percent,” said Eline. “The bill will definitely help us gain more than four percent.”
The bill is based off legislation that was passed in Kentucky and raises millions of dollars every year for pediatric cancer research. The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee voted in favor the bill (S1538). The Assembly version is waiting to be heard in the Appropriations Committee.
