Proposition No. 6: Fund Cancer Research?

Proposed Constitutional Amendments:

Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a series of stories about the 10 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution which will be voted on by Texans Nov. 5

The State of Texas has funded research into cancer prevention through the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) for 10 years now. The institute was founded in 2009 after it was approved by voters in 2007. As of May of this year, it had issued $2.26 billion in grant money, and is projected to exhaust the $3 billion in bonds it’s currently authorized to issue sometime between 2020 and 2022.

Proposition No. 6 on the ballot this November is titled “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to increase by $3 billion the maximum bond amount authorized for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.” It would increase CPRIT’s authorization by an additional $3 billion, while continuing to limit the institute to issuing $300 million in bonds annually.

The proposed amendment would do this very simply, by striking out a “3” and changing it to a “6,” altering the phrase in Section 67(c) of Article 3 of the Texas Constitution to “...in an amount not to exceed $6 billion...”.

“We had (founded CPRIT), I guess about 10 years ago or longer, and those bonds have run out,” said Texas State Rep. Drew Darby (R – San Angelo) who represents District 72 in the State Legislature. “A lot of great work has happened, so we need to further that mission.”

Darby said CPRIT has done plenty of good work in the 10 years since it was founded.

“This institute was stood up and it has made grants and funded other initiatives that have brought very meaningful research and discovery into the treatment and/or prevention... and hopefully ultimately will bring the elimination... of cancer, perhaps, as one of the largest scourges on humanity we have,” he said. “There’s not a family in Texas that’s not touched by the effects of cancer. We have brought world-renowned professors, researchers, to Texas. We have funded these research projects. We have made very meaningful discoveries. There has been a Nobel prize arise out of it in Houston for work with our own immune system. But again, this work needs to continue, and again, a lot of these initiatives require ongoing support.”

The ongoing work of companies and scientists funded by CPRIT also brings big health and economic benefits, Darby added.

“Not only do we fund research and prevention initiatives, but it also improves health outcomes, which comes with economic benefits,” he said. “We've attracted many bio-tech companies and they have generated income. There are patent opportunities and ongoing revenue streams associated with the products of that research that the state of Texas and this institute generate for the state of Texas.”

Next week's article will focus on Proposition No. 7, which would increase monetary distributions to the state school fund.

Contact Staff Writer Roger Cline at 432-263-7331 ext. 235, or by email at reporter@bigspringherald.com.