Texas lawmakers demand answers from cancer agency
Key lawmakers in Texas demand answers on how faulty grant was approved
By Todd Ackerman, Eric Berger | November 30, 2012 | Updated: November 30, 2012 8:03pm
Much of Texas' political leadership demanded answers from the state's embattled cancer agency Friday, a day after the disclosure it gave a startup biotech company an $11 million grant without proper review.
Key legislators, ranging from those who authored the bill creating the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to those who head committees overseeing it, called for an accounting of exactly how the grant awarded to Peloton Therapeutics of Dallas bypassed the legally required process.
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The legislators were joined in their criticism by Gov. Rick Perry, House Speaker Joe Straus and the heads of the House committees on appropriations, higher education and public health.
A spokeswoman for Perry said the governor "agrees with Senator Nelson and Representative Keffer that the Legislature and Texas taxpayers deserve to have the full background of this situation."
She added that Perry "expects CPRIT to apply rigorous review standards to every decision that includes taxpayer funds."
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