After days of darkness, Gov. Rick Perry's office lets the sunshine in -- again

Updated 5:45 p.m. Nov. 5

The governor's office on Friday released to the Austin American-Statesman a copy of the contract that paid $4.5 million to David G. Nance's Convergen Lifesciences.

The burst of sunshine came two days after The Dallas Morning News used two of its blogs to post the same contract -- which it received in August from Gov. Rick Perry's office in response to a Public Information Act request.

The News reported last month that the contract was awarded despite Convergen's failure to win the recommendation of a regional screening panel.

In a letter to the Statesman, the governor's office said a third party -- which a Perry spokesman confirmed is Convergen -- on Friday "withdrew its objection to release" of the contract.

The governor's office of general counsel had told the Statesman on Nov. 1 that the contract was exempt from disclosure under state law.

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Gov. Rick Perry's office appears to have changed its position on public disclosure of the contracts it signs with recipients of awards from the state's Emerging Technology Fund.

In declining a recent request from the Austin American Statesman, attorneys for the governor argued that disclosure of a contract that paid $4.5 million to Convergen Lifesciences, a biotech company run by David Nance, a longtime Perry friend and political donor, would be an improper release of proprietary information. The governor's office shipped the public information request to Attorney General Greg Abbott for a ruling, the Statesman reported.

But in response to a similar request made by The Dallas Morning News under the Texas Public Information Act, the governor's office offered no such objection. The News obtained a copy of the Convergen contract in August and reported last month that the contract was awarded despite Convergen's failure to obtain the recommendation of a regional screening panel. In addition to the Convergen contract, The News also received 14 other contracts of tech fund recipients.

The governor and his spokeswoman have defended the Convergen award as proper and offered a variety of reasons why it was not the result of favoritism.

Convergen Contract

Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/gov-rick-perry-shifting-sands.html

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