At a time when Texas is billions of dollars short on funds needed to build congestion-relieving roads Texas lawmakers took the opportunity with the TxDOT sunset bill to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. Instead of addressing pressing issues at the agency House members have made a mess of the Sunset bill and in the precious few remaining weeks of session need to work diligently to clean it up.
Working into the late hours of the night last Friday and continuing the next morning House lawmakers attached dead or dying legislation to a large TxDOT reauthorization bill creating what is affectionately known in the State Capitol as a Christmas tree but is really a monster of a bill barely recognizable from its original form.
Original measures in the bill to address TxDOTs governing structure would have left the number of commissioners at 5 and transferred some of the nominating authority away from the Governor. However this was sidetracked by an unwieldy amendment to abolish the appointed five-member commission and create 14 mini-TxDOT districts each with an elected commissioner and one statewide-elected commissioner. Another measure attached to the bill on the House floor would require TxDOT to distribute all of its money to the 25 metropolitan planning organizations across the state an event which would effectively demolish the states unified transportation plan.
This Christmas tree creates more government bureaucracy and newsletter fodder while sidestepping the bigger picture: Texas is quickly running out of money to build and maintain our roads and bridges. Many of the dysfunctional" problems of TxDOT that lawmakers are quick to point out actually stem from the legislatures unwillingness to adequately fund our states road building in the first place.
Proposed measures to end diversions from the states road-building fund have found no champion despite early pledges from the states leadership to do so. Other measures to increase or index the stagnant statewide 20 cent-per-gallon gas tax have fallen by the wayside and have been replaced by the potential for a gas tax increase only in certain urban counties. And a proposal to study the possibility of a vehicle-miles-traveled tax a true road user fee didnt make it out of committee.
According to the 2030 Committee a group charged with determining the amount of money Texas must invest in our roads and bridges over the next 20 years to maintain adequate maintenance and safety levels Texas will need a total of $315 billion or $14.3 billion total investment each year. However TxDOT along with the local Metropolitan Planning Organizations estimate they will only have $158 billion in revenues over the next 20 years.
In order to fill this expected gap Texans and our lawmakers must roll up our sleeves tighten our belts and commit to finding sustainable solutions to funding our road infrastructure and making room for the nearly 1200 people moving to Texas every day.
Lawmakers have voiced their disdain for TxDOTs past mistakes and shown they are willing and able to take drastic steps to rein in this agency. However creating an unwieldy monstrous bureaucracy is exactly not what Texans want and does nothing to solve our road funding crisis. Its time now for lawmakers to act in the best interest of the whole state and help create an agency that is accountable to Texans allocates our precious transportation dollars equitably and continues to help build Texas economy through better and safer roads.
Texans for Safe Reliable Transportation is a coalition of Texas drivers civic leaders and employers dedicated to improving our states hurricane and disaster response job creation and quality of life by getting needed roads rail public transportation and other infrastructure built and operating years sooner than expected. More information is available online at http://TSRT.com
At a time when Texas is billions of dollars short on funds needed to build congestion-relieving roads Texas lawmakers took the opportunity with the TxDOT sunset bill to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. Instead of addressing pressing issues at the agency House members have made a mess of the Sunset bill and in the precious few remaining weeks of session need to work diligently to clean it up.
Working into the late hours of the night last Friday and continuing the next morning House lawmakers attached dead or dying legislation to a large TxDOT reauthorization bill creating what is affectionately known in the State Capitol as a Christmas tree but is really a monster of a bill barely recognizable from its original form.
Original measures in the bill to address TxDOTs governing structure would have left the number of commissioners at 5 and transferred some of the nominating authority away from the Governor. However this was sidetracked by an unwieldy amendment to abolish the appointed five-member commission and create 14 mini-TxDOT districts each with an elected commissioner and one statewide-elected commissioner. Another measure attached to the bill on the House floor would require TxDOT to distribute all of its money to the 25 metropolitan planning organizations across the state an event which would effectively demolish the states unified transportation plan.
This Christmas tree creates more government bureaucracy and newsletter fodder while sidestepping the bigger picture: Texas is quickly running out of money to build and maintain our roads and bridges. Many of the dysfunctional" problems of TxDOT that lawmakers are quick to point out actually stem from the legislatures unwillingness to adequately fund our states road building in the first place.
Proposed measures to end diversions from the states road-building fund have found no champion despite early pledges from the states leadership to do so. Other measures to increase or index the stagnant statewide 20 cent-per-gallon gas tax have fallen by the wayside and have been replaced by the potential for a gas tax increase only in certain urban counties. And a proposal to study the possibility of a vehicle-miles-traveled tax a true road user fee didnt make it out of committee.
According to the 2030 Committee a group charged with determining the amount of money Texas must invest in our roads and bridges over the next 20 years to maintain adequate maintenance and safety levels Texas will need a total of $315 billion or $14.3 billion total investment each year. However TxDOT along with the local Metropolitan Planning Organizations estimate they will only have $158 billion in revenues over the next 20 years.
In order to fill this expected gap Texans and our lawmakers must roll up our sleeves tighten our belts and commit to finding sustainable solutions to funding our road infrastructure and making room for the nearly 1200 people moving to Texas every day.
Lawmakers have voiced their disdain for TxDOTs past mistakes and shown they are willing and able to take drastic steps to rein in this agency. However creating an unwieldy monstrous bureaucracy is exactly not what Texans want and does nothing to solve our road funding crisis. Its time now for lawmakers to act in the best interest of the whole state and help create an agency that is accountable to Texans allocates our precious transportation dollars equitably and continues to help build Texas economy through better and safer roads.
Texans for Safe Reliable Transportation is a coalition of Texas drivers civic leaders and employers dedicated to improving our states hurricane and disaster response job creation and quality of life by getting needed roads rail public transportation and other infrastructure built and operating years sooner than expected. More information is available online at http://TSRT.com
