State tech fund broke - Perry blames everyone but himself

AAS 7/13/10
State tech fund out of money, for now
Perry's office saw shortfall coming - to tune of $100 million - but didn't tell lawmakers, officials say.

The state's Emerging Technology Fund has stopped taking applications for future awards because it is out of money at least for now.

Although the Legislature last year appropriated $203 million for it, the fund is tapped out, less than halfway through the two-year budget cycle and even though the governor's office has committed only about half of the budgeted amount.

What happened to the other $100 million?

Mike Morrissey, a senior adviser to Gov. Rick Perry, blames slow federal payments for $50 million of the shortfall and a $50 million discrepancy in the state appropriations process for the remainder.

The state fund, created in 2005, supports research and startup companies in cutting-edge fields, including 26 Austin-area companies that have received a total of $41 million. The money also has helped draw top scientists and promising young companies from other states to Texas.

State Reps. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, Richard Pena Raymond, D-Laredo, and Mark Strama, D-Austin, said they were caught off-guard by the news that applications are being halted. Pitts and Raymond are chairman and vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Strama chairs the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development and Workforce.

Strama questioned the move to stop taking applications because it's possible the speaker or lieutenant governor won't approve the 30 companies that the governor's office is recommending for the final $64 million. Strama also said he is worried that renewable energy companies, which have been relatively late to the game, might be the ones shut out.