EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — Ahead of Election Day, Esther Labib-Kiyarash, a local resident of El Paso living with young-onset Parkinson’s disease, is urging the community to discuss Proposition 14.

Proposition 14 proposes a $3 billion allocation to create the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to research neurological conditions, including dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease.

It is one of 17 constitutional amendments that Texas voters will vote on in the next few weeks, with early voting already underway and running through Oct. 31.

With Election Day quickly approaching on Nov. 4, Labib-Kiyarash spoke to KFOX14/CBS4 about the proposition and what it could mean for her if the amendment is approved.

“It is going to make Texas the leader in the nation for brain disease research,” Labib-Kiyarash said, emphasizing the importance of the amendment.

She added that the proposition could impact many, “It is a growing disease and impacts so many people, not just Parkinson’s, but dementia and Alzheimer’s. I can’t really think of anyone that I know who doesn’t have some connection to one of those conditions.”

In an effort to continue to garner support for the amendment, Labib-Kiyarash also recently participated in an advertisement for the Michael J. Fox Foundation, filmed at her home in El Paso. The foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 2000 by Canadian-American actor Michael J. Fox, who also has Parkinson’s, to find treatments and a cure for Parkinson’s disease.

According to the Texas Tribune, the measure has already received bipartisan support from a majority of lawmakers and was one of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s legislative priorities.

If approved, a constitutional amendment would allocate an initial $3 billion from state surplus revenue to a new research fund.

A board, appointed by Patrick, House Speaker Dustin Burrows, and Gov. Greg Abbott, would oversee the approval of research proposals.

The institute will then receive up to $300 million annually, aiming to attract physicians, researchers, and experts to Texas.

Additionally, according to the Texas Tribune, the initiative is said to be modeled after the state’s Cancer Research and Prevention Institute, the nation’s second-largest cancer research funder.

RECOMMENDED: Early voting for Texas’ 17 statewide propositions is under way. What voters need to know.

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