Perry........Nothing improper about 4.5 million grant

First Reading blog AAS 10/14/10
More fallout from Perry grant controversy
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A number of stories in the Texas papers this morning about Gov. Rick Perry’s Emerging Technology Fund and the $4.5 million grant that went to Austin businessman David Nance, who is Perry’s good friend, despite the fact that it didn’t get the approval of a regional screening board.

From the http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/former-tech-fund-chief-pitched-own-proposals-971024.html">Statesman’s Laylan Copelin and Kirk Ladendorf: “A month after Alan Kirchhoff resigned as director of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, he was pitching a business proposal to state officials in the company of Austin entrepreneur David Nance, who had just received a $4.5 million grant from the state fund for a different venture.

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/101410dntexperry.2546b3b.html">Dallas Morning News: “Gov. Rick Perry acknowledged Wednesday that he has a “nice, close personal relationship” with a major campaign donor whose company was awarded $4.5 million in state technology funds despite its failure to win approval from a regional screening board.

San Antonio Express-News: “Democratic challenger Bill White on Wednesday reiterated calls for an investigation of Gov. Rick Perry’s use of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund after new allegations that Perry pushed through a $4.5 million grant for a campaign donor without going through proper procedures.

AAS 10/14/10
Former tech fund chief pitched own proposals

A month after Alan Kirchhoff resigned as director of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, he was pitching a business proposal to state officials in the company of Austin entrepreneur David Nance, who had just received a $4.5 million grant from the state fund for a different venture.

The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday reported that Gov. Rick Perry and other top state officials approved the Nance grant over the objections of a regional board that vets applications to the fund.

Nance is a longtime Perry supporter who has contributed $80,000 to his campaigns since 2000.

Kirchhoff, who had run the fund since 2008, resigned in August following a different controversy: The fund temporarily stopped taking new applications because it had run out of money.

Within weeks, Kirchhoff and Nance were making the rounds in state government, pitching a proposal for public money for a network of refueling stations for natural-gas-powered vehicles, according to several state officials.

News 8 Austin 10/14/10
Perry denies alleged favoritism with tech funds
Gov. Rick Perry denied any wrongdoing Wednesday after allegations surfaced that he wrongfully awarded a campaign donor millions from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund.

The fund of public money is set up for state investments in high-tech startup firms. It is administered by the governor's office.

The initial report from Tuesday's Dallas Morning News stated campaign donor David Nance, who has given $80,000 to Perry since 2000, bypassed the usual approval process to receive money from the fund. He was awarded $4.5 million earlier this year.

The latest investigation into the state's Emerging Technology Fund has Perry’s critics calling on him to stop abusing the system.

The Hill 10/04/10
Texas Tea Partiers should disown Rick Perry

The Dallas Morning News has just published the results of a sweeping investigation of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund that suggests that taxpayer-financed grants were awarded to a long list of firms that made very large campaign donations to Gov. Rick Perry (R).

These are not isolated cases. The Morning News investigation yields a significant number of major Perry campaign donors receiving a significant number of large grants. This is a direct contrast with the integrity and sound management shown by former Houston Mayor Bill White, Perry's opponent for governor, who has long been a favorite of business leaders, political independents and many moderate Republicans during his landslide victories in Houston.

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It is time for the Texas Tea Party leaders to reject Perry's campaign and consider supporting Bill White for governor. The Tea Party movements claims it is not partisan, and claims fiscal responsibility and fiscal integrity are at the heart of their movement.

Whether Texas Tea Partiers honor what they say about fiscal responsibility, more political independents and moderate Republicans will move to White as this scandal unfolds.

AAS 10/15/10
New questions raised about $4.5 million state grant to Austin company

Gov. Rick Perry and the state's legislative leaders awarded a $4.5 million grant to a cancer treatment company launched by David Nance, a close Perry friend and campaign donor, after the company sidestepped two review committees, including a statewide board created specifically to evaluate and make recommendations on life-science companies.

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Perry has yet to announce the award or explain what the company, Convergen LifeSciences Inc., will be doing, although it has started drawing down the money. By comparison, Perry has announced four other awards in the recent days as he campaigned across the state.

Andrew Nat Jr., executive director of the board that evaluates life-science grant candidates, said Nance submitted an application last year but withdrew it without making a presentation. Last October, the local board that reviews Austin-area grants turned down Nance's application.

Nance then appealed directly to a statewide board that is the final step before proposals are sent to Perry and other leaders for a decision.

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"This deal sounds a little bit like an outlier," Nat said of the approval of the Convergen grant without an evaluation by his group, the Texas Life Science Center of Innovation and Commercialization. Its 20 members include medical doctors, university officials, researchers and other specialists.