September 11, 2014 6:23 PM

Following scandal, CPRIT is making slow progress

If lawmakers are satisfied with the agency’s progress, CPRIT would pull down $600 million in bonds for the next biennium

The Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas is making the slow, tenuous trek back to a fully functioning state agency after recanting, and reorganizing, after serious questions around conflicts of interest were raised two years ago.

CPRIT saw a storm of legislative concern back in 2012, but it was hard to tell from Thursday’s budget review before a small subset of the Legislative Budget Board. Wayne Roberts, the interim-turned-permanent-CEO who came to the organization after a stint at the University of Texas Health Science Center, was confident of his agency’s new direction.

A new oversight committee and a fully implemented overhaul of the organization were signs that CPRIT deserved another chance to handle its own accounts, Roberts said.

“We hope that our rapid response to the audit and Senate Bill 149 indicates, not only in action but also in spirit, an ability to be trustworthy responsible stewards of public funds,” Roberts told a small panel of staffers.

By Kimberly Reeves