Senate panel advances plan to create Texas Dementia Prevention and Research Institute, sends constitutional amendment to ballot

The Texas Senate Finance Committee on May 1 advanced a plan to create the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and to send a companion constitutional amendment to voters that would transfer $3 billion from General Revenue to a new dementia research fund.

The committee adopted committee substitutes for Senate Bill 5 and Senate Joint Resolution 3 and, after a quorum was established, voted 8-0 to report both measures to the full Senate. The substitutes would establish DPRIT, set a $300 million per-fiscal-year spending cap (with unexpended balances to carry forward), authorize deposit of investment earnings and patent royalties into General Revenue, and require peer review, conflict-of-interest rules, annual audits and legislative reports.

Why it matters: supporters said state-backed, sustained grant funding modeled on the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) could accelerate prevention, diagnostics and treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias while attracting researchers and biotech investment to the state. Opponents and some members pressed for a larger share of funding dedicated to prevention research.

Senator Jane Nelson, secretary of state and the author of the CPRIT legislation, told the committee that the CPRIT model produced “life-changing results” and urged lawmakers that Texas could repeat that success for dementia research. “We’re close,” Nelson said, describing recent scientific advances and the opportunity to accelerate them through sustained state funding.

Several clinicians and research leaders testified in support of the bill, saying multidisciplinary grant funding could speed translation of laboratory discoveries into patient care. William Dower, director of the Peter O’Donnell Brain Institute at UT Southwestern, said, “A significant investment as proposed in SB 5 could accelerate such discoveries already made to address a constellation of dementia and related diseases.”

Patient advocates and family members described the human toll and the immediate need for better diagnosis, care coordination and access to emerging therapies. Liz McNeil, who testified with her husband Lance, said finding a neurologist informed about new treatments was difficult: “Finding a neurologist who was informed on recent discoveries and treatments was a monumental challenge,” she said.

Areas of debate included a provision that limits prevention projects to up to 10% of annual grant awards; Senator Bob Hall urged a larger share for prevention research, saying prevention can be more effective than seeking a cure after disease onset. Other senators said that prevention questions could be addressed within the peer-review and program-integration structures the substitute establishes.

The substitute creates an Oversight Committee appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker; the governor’s appointees would provide the panel’s first presiding officer. The oversight committee would hire a CEO, set grant priorities, adopt rules, and approve final grants recommended by a peer-review committee. DPRIT would be subject to the Texas Sunset Act and would be abolished on Sept. 1, 2035 unless reauthorized.

Votes at a glance: Committee substitutes for Senate Bill 5 (creating DPRIT) and SJR 3 (constitutional amendment transferring $3 billion to a dementia fund) were adopted and reported to the full Senate, each by an 8-0 recorded vote in committee.

What happens next: SJR 3, if enacted by the Legislature and approved by voters, would authorize the $3 billion transfer and allow up to $300 million in appropriations per fiscal year (with prior unexpended balances carrying forward). SB 5’s operative date is tied to voter approval and would take effect Dec. 1, 2025 if the constitutional amendment is approved.

Committee testimony also highlighted the breadth of dementia-related needs across Texas — from pediatric neurodegenerative diseases to Parkinson’s-related dementia and rural gaps in specialty care — and urged DPRIT to fund both basic science and practical care supports. The Senate Finance Committee left the committee substitutes pending earlier in the hearing while it awaited a quorum; once quorum was present the substitutes were adopted and the measures were reported to the full Senate for consideration.

Implementation and oversight: the committee substitute requires peer review of grant proposals, strict conflict-of-interest rules, annual independent financial audits reviewed by the comptroller, and routine legislative reporting. Supporters said those safeguards mirror CPRIT’s model. The substitute also authorizes a Higher Education Advisory Committee and a program integration committee to align research with state health goals.

Supporters: Secretary of State Jane Nelson; William Dower, UT Southwestern; Sudhakar Seshadri, UT Health San Antonio; Louis McCullough, UT Health Houston; Ted Mitchell, Texas Tech University System; multiple clinician-scientists, patient advocates and groups including the Alzheimer’s Association and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Concerns and limits: Senator Bob Hall and others urged a larger allocation to prevention research than the 10% cap the substitute permits; Hall said government funding must prioritize prevention where possible and urged “at least half of it go to the prevention side.” Committee members noted that prevention-focused projects could still be funded through standard peer-review channels and research into causes could yield prevention opportunities over time.

Funding details and timeline clarified in testimony: the committee substitute to SJR 3 would place a $3,000,000,000 transfer on the November 2025 ballot; the substitute to SB 5 would cap annual appropriations at $300,000,000 (except that unexpended balances may carry forward). DPRIT would be abolished on Sept. 1, 2035 unless extended by law.

Background: supporters repeatedly cited the state’s investment in cancer research through CPRIT as a template; CPRIT was created by voters in 2007 with $3 billion and expanded again by voter approval in 2019. Testimony also noted state Medicaid costs for Alzheimer’s care (a figure of roughly $4 billion in 2024 was cited during the hearing) and emphasized long-term fiscal and caregiving burdens if no progress is made.

The committee hearing combined invited expert testimony and public witnesses, and the Senate Finance Committee completed roll-call reporting of both measures to the full Senate by unanimous committee vote.