House members voted 121-23 to approve Senate Bill 5, authored by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, on April 24 after the bill’s third reading. The bill would create the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, a top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
The institute's objective is to advance research and prevention strategies for dementia-related disorders, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, according to the bill.
“We want to give people quality of life on the front end of their lives as well as on the back end of their lives,” said state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, a sponsor of the bill. “We believe that this research is going to help us to find those triggers that are causing the problems of Alzheimer's and dementia in people.”
SB 5 was sent back to the Texas Senate on April 24. If state senators approve House amendments to the bill, it will head to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.
What’s in the bill?
The institute would be established with an initial funding of $3 billion, according to a March 7 press release. The bill would also create an endowment to allocate $300 million per year in grants from state revenue to dementia-related research projects and groups, said state Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland.
The research institute would be similar to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, which was established in 2009 after the 80th legislative session.
In an April 2 interview with Community Impact, Patrick said Texas’ creation of CPRIT “sent a signal to researchers all over the country that Texas is really serious about doing cancer research.”
“One disease that I think so many families sadly know about, because maybe they have family or friends, is Alzheimer's. ... We want to attract the best and brightest people to do research to hopefully find a cure one day, but also to find prevention and hopefully research on medication that delays it as long as we can,” Patrick told Community Impact.
The other side
Legislators in opposition to the bill cited concerns for creating a new government agency. Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, said medical research should be left to the “free market” and dementia or Alzheimer’s-related diseases should not be the only illness researched.
"What good could be done in the private sector with the $3 billion instead of the government taking it, handing it to bureaucrats to spend as bureaucrats see fit?" Harrison said. “This is corporate welfare on steroids.”
Looking ahead
The creation of the institute is dependent on Senate Joint Resolution 3, a constitutional amendment that would transfer $3 billion from the state general revenue fund to establish the institute. The Texas House adopted SJR 3 on April 28.
The constitutional amendment is set to appear on Texas voters’ ballots in November.
Hannah Norton contributed to this article.
