Abbott Looks To End Perry's Startups Fund
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AUSTIN (AP) - Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is planning to abolish Rick Perry's pet program that gave $200 million in taxpayer dollars to Texas startups and was beset by bankruptcies and transparency issues.
Abbott said Thursday that the Texas Emerging Technology Fund should be eliminated. The decade-old program was one of Perry's signature initiatives and one the potential 2016 presidential candidate often used to extol the strengths of the Texas economy.
An Associated Press review of the fund last year found that some of the high-risk startups had undisclosed business troubles and reported questionable job-creation figures.
Abbott wants to use money currently set aside for the tech fund to launch what he calls his University Research Initiative. He says it would provide matching funds to Texas universities to recruit nationally recognized faculty.
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