One constitutional amendment on the ballot in this year\u2019s November election would create a new state-funded institute for dementia prevention and research. Proposition 14, if approved by voters, would pull $3 billion from the state\u2019s general revenue. That allocation would fund the new Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas for a decade.<\/p>\n
Voters will decide this fall on 17 amendments to the state constitution. It\u2019s essential to understand how the amendments will impact day-to-day life in Texas before votes are cast. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4, early voting opens Monday, Oct. 20.<\/p>\n
Dementia is an umbrella term that describes cognitive decline, such as memory loss. It can be caused by a number of different things, but Alzheimer\u2019s disease is the most common form of dementia. More than 450,000 older Texans are living with Alzheimer\u2019s disease, according to 2020 data from the Alzheimer\u2019s Association. That amounts to about 12% of the state\u2019s 65-and-older population.<\/p>\n
The Alzheimer\u2019s Association has launched a campaign urging Texas voters to approve the institute\u2019s funding. \u201cWe know that dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s is a growing crisis in Texas,\u201d said Joanne Pike, president and CEO of the Alzheimer\u2019s Association. \u201cA \u2018yes\u2019 vote on Prop 14 gives us the opportunity to accelerate research, but also how we provide treatment care for Texans today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
If passed, the proposed institute would aim to turn Texas into a national leader in dementia research, and attract researchers and medical providers to the state. Kimberly Knight, a director at The Senior Source in Dallas, said that could give Texans easier access to top dementia specialists and early access to experimental treatments.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt puts us in a position to really kind of chart the course for what a cure looks like, what prevention methods look like,\u201d Knight said. The creation of the dementia institute earned bipartisan support during this year\u2019s Legislative session. The bill was carried by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, with dozens of other lawmakers signing onto the bill as either co-authors, sponsors or co-sponsors.<\/p>\n
However, a handful of lawmakers \u2014 such as State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian \u2014 raised concerns about the $3 billion price tag and the expansion of state government. The bill overwhelmingly passed both the Senate and the House. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick applauded the passage of the bill, which he had named as one of his priorities for the session.<\/p>\n
DPRIT would be modeled off CPRIT, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, which has been an engine for cancer research since its creation in 2007. Since then, CPRIT has become the second-largest public funder of cancer research in the country. Texas\u2019 institute is second only to the federal government\u2019s National Cancer Institute.<\/p>\n
Kristen Doyle, CEO of CPRIT, said the cancer institute has recruited leading experts and brought them to Texas, and has invested in expensive equipment and other resources to bolster the existing research being done in the state. \u201cAll of these things are increasing the resources that are available in Texas, both from brainpower and equipment,\u201d Doyle said, \u201cand truly driving that forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
While DPRIT would likely differ from its predecessor in some key ways \u2014 including the structure of its funding \u2014 advocates hope the project can follow the cancer institute\u2019s success. First, though, voters must decide if they want to fund the dementia institute. The decision to approve or reject the proposed institute will have a significant impact on the state\u2019s approach to dementia research and treatment.<\/p>\n
Q: What is Proposition 14?<\/strong> Proposition 14 is a constitutional amendment that would create a new state-funded institute for dementia prevention and research.<\/p>\n Q: How much funding would the institute receive?<\/strong> The institute would receive $3 billion from the state\u2019s general revenue over a decade.<\/p>\n Q: What is the goal of the proposed institute?<\/strong> The goal of the proposed institute is to turn Texas into a national leader in dementia research and attract researchers and medical providers to the state.<\/p>\n Q: How many Texans are living with Alzheimer\u2019s disease?<\/strong> According to 2020 data from the Alzheimer\u2019s Association, more than 450,000 older Texans are living with Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n Q: When is Election Day?<\/strong> Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4, and early voting opens Monday, Oct. 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Understanding the Proposed Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas One constitutional amendment on the ballot in this year\u2019s November election would create a new state-funded institute for dementia prevention and research. Proposition 14, if approved by voters, would pull $3 billion from the state\u2019s general revenue. That allocation would fund the new Dementia Prevention […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":14889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-wellness"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/XIYISADV2E7SVDR77XOW7ABRXM.jpg?auth=b5ea319d5c67944e17754a855cbbd405aa21484b6c6a6007142eb62fe13bcc42&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&smart=true","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14887"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14890,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14887\/revisions\/14890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}