Gov. Rick Perry's chief of staff met with key aides about the human papillomavirus vaccine the same day its manufacturer donated money to his campaign, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.
Chief of staff Deirdre Delisi's calendar shows she met with the governor's budget director and three members of his office for an "HPV Vaccine for Children Briefing" on Oct. 16.
That day, New Jersey-based Merck & Co.'s political action committee donated $5,000 to Perry, $2,500 to comptroller candidate Susan Combs and $2,000 to four state lawmakers.
The calendar and other documents obtained by the AP show Perry's office began meeting with Merck lobbyists about the vaccine as early as mid-August, months before social conservatives — who are now those most outraged by the order — helped re-elect him in November.
Perry spokesman Robert Black said the timing of the meeting and the donation was a coincidence. He said Delisi had asked budget director Mike Morrissey to update her on the cost of providing the newly FDA-approved HPV vaccine free to young women on Medicaid.
"There was no discussion of any kind of mandates," Black said.
The order the governor issued earlier this month directed the Texas Health and Human Services to adopt rules requiring the shots for girls entering sixth grade as of September 2008. The vaccine protects girls and women against the HPV strains that cause most cases of cervical cancer.
It seems like a pretty odd coincidence that these events just happened to transpire on the same day. Call me a cynic, but it just does not seem possible. The good news it seems is that democracy and balance of power, might actually work, even in Texas:
On Wednesday, the House public health committee voted 6-to-3 in favor of a bill that would override Perry's mandate by barring state officials from requiring the vaccine for school attendance. Ninety-one state representatives — or nearly two-thirds of the House — are co-sponsoring the bill, which now can be considered by the full House.
This also can open a potential can of worms for those around the govenor who seems to have ramrodded this mandate down the pipe:
The documents obtained Wednesday by The AP under Texas' open records law provide new detail about the relationship between the governor's office and Merck, which makes the only HPV vaccine on the market.
Critics had previously questioned Perry's ties to the company. Mike Toomey, Perry's former chief of staff and Delisi's predecessor, lobbies for the drug company. And the governor accepted a total of $6,000 from Merck during his re-election campaign, including $1,000 in December 2005.
According to Delisi's calendar, she met with Toomey three times in the sixth months before the order was issued. One meeting happened in August, on the same day two other Perry staffers met with a different Merck lobbyist for a "Merck HPV Vaccine update." The other meetings came just after the November election and just before the legislative session began in January.
Black said he did not know what the two discussed. He said the pair have been friends for years and pointed out that Toomey has many clients other than Merck. He also insisted that the governor did not decide to issue the mandate until well after the election.
Toomey could not be immediately reached for comment.
Cathie Adams, president of the conservative Texas Eagle Forum, said Black's explanation of the timing of the campaign contribution didn't wash.
"We have too many coincidences," she said. "I think that the voters of Texas would find that very hard to swallow."
It is hard to believe I am in agreement with the Texas conservatives, but I agree this deal stinks like yesterdays sushi. I can only hope that this come backs to bite these arrogant politcians who tried to leverage lobbyists money into the re-election plans and now have to answer to those citizens who elected them, asking them where their priorities are.
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