By David A. Diaz - Legislative Media
A special legislative subcommittee on transportation which includes Rep. Armando Mando Martnez D-Weslaco and Rep. Ryan Guillen D-Rio Grande City will be holding its first public hearing at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday April 27 the mid-Valley lawmaker has announced.
The Subcommittee on Planning & Accountability which was established in mid-February by Speaker of the House Joe Straus R-San Antonio is one of two subcommittees of the House Select Committee on Transportation Funding.
The House Select Committee on Transportation Funding was assigned by Straus to develop transportation proposals for the next legislative session. The committees analysis will include a study of ways to increase accountability in transportation planning and a review of the effectiveness and efficiency of current funding options.
Guillen is chairman of the Subcommittee on Planning & Accountability.
That panels session which is open to the public will begin at 10 a.m. on Tuesday April 27 in Room E2.036 which is part of the Texas Capitol complex.
Martnez said anyone with access to the Internet will be able to view the public hearing either as it happens or the unedited video-recording by logging on to:
www.house.state.tx.us/media/welcome.php
In our first subcommittee hearing we are scheduled to hear from officials with the Texas Department of Transportation from regional mobility authorities and from metropolitan planning organizations all which play crucial roles in how public funds are invested in our highway system said Martnez.
There are going to be ideas that could result in proposed legislation and state policies. I will be helping all interested persons organizations and local governments in the Valley to be kept up-to-speed on what is happening so they too can be part of the solutions in state transportation issues.
When Straus last February announced the formation of the House Select Committee on Transportation Funding he made it clear that Texans have the right to better know how taxes are being spent.
Texans expect a fiscally sound transportation policy that meets the infrastructure and mobility challenges of our growing state Straus said. Our transportation agency must be accountable and efficient.
Straus appointed Rep. Larry Phillips R-Sherman and Rep. Eddie Rodrguez D-Austin to serve as chair and vice chair respectively of the full committee. The House Select Committee on Transportation Funding will operate as a full committee and will also conduct business in two subcommittees.
In addition to Guillen and Martnez other members of the Subcommittee on Planning & Accountability are Rep. Roberto Alonzo D-Dallas; Rep.
Bill Callegari R-Katy; Rep. Edmund Kuempel R-Seguin; Rep. Wayne Smith R-Baytown; and Rep. Senfronia Thompson D-Houston.
The second panel The Subcommittee on Funding do not have any Valley legislators.
Legislative Media reports on major legislation that affects South Texans. For more on this and related stories and photographs please log on to www.EdinburgPolitics.com Tracy Young contributed to this story.
