WACO, Texas (KXXV) — Texas lawmakers passed a bill allowing voters to decide on a new research facility to help deal with one of the fastest-growing diseases in the U.S.
Texas ranks third in the nation in Alzheimer’s cases and second in deaths related to the disease, according to Texas Health and Human Services. A new bill, which passed the House and Senate, would provide 3 billion dollars to create the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, or DPRIT.
"It funds a program to make Texas a leader in dementia and Alzheimer’s research and prevention in the world," State Representative Pat Curry said.
DPRIT is modeled after the state’s six billion-dollar cancer prevention research institute, established in 2007. This program has made Texas a world leader in cancer research.
The institute will award grants to attract, create, and expand research at universities.
“Tom Craddick carried it, and I was a joint author, and it passed with more than 100 votes, so going to ballot," Curry said.
“This could be the way to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s and other dementia problems. This could be how we solve it,” Craddick of Midland said.
Our neighbors will vote in November on transferring 3 billion dollars from the state general revenue fund to establish the institute.
Curry says, “I couldn’t be more proud to be a freshman on a 3 billion bill that should help change every life in the state of Texas.”
If it passes, the governor will appoint a nine-member oversight committee that will include physicians, family members, and caregivers.
