Posted 10:10 pm Wednesday, January 23, 2013
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State Sen. Eltife proposes bill to end funing cancer research with debt
State Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, filed a bill Tuesday proposing a constitutional amendment to discontinue issuing debt to pay for cancer research.
Eltife said the bill would not abolish the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, an agency created to approve research grants to private medical companies, including pharmaceutical firms.
“We’re all for cancer research,” Eltife said. “I am just against issuing debt and taxing future generations to do it.”
Eltife said the bill would not abolish the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, an agency created to approve research grants to private medical companies, including pharmaceutical firms.
“We’re all for cancer research,” Eltife said. “I am just against issuing debt and taxing future generations to do it.”
Eltife proposed the institute present its case before the legislature every two years as most other state-run departments. He said he was concerned about the lack of oversight by the institute’s board, which decides where millions of dollars in research grants are awarded.
A scandal regarding the board awarding more than $11 million without a full review and application process was repored by the Associated Press in fall 2012. A Nobel Laureate and other cancer researchers at the institute resigned to protest the board’s action and to shed light on what they said carried the “suspicion of favoritism.”
Texas voters approved the sale of $3 billion in bonds to finance a 10-year effort to find cures for various cancers in 2007. Eltife’s proposal is SJR 19.
A scandal regarding the board awarding more than $11 million without a full review and application process was repored by the Associated Press in fall 2012. A Nobel Laureate and other cancer researchers at the institute resigned to protest the board’s action and to shed light on what they said carried the “suspicion of favoritism.”
Texas voters approved the sale of $3 billion in bonds to finance a 10-year effort to find cures for various cancers in 2007. Eltife’s proposal is SJR 19.
