DALLAS – After three special sessions, Texas lawmakers passed a $1.2 billion transportation bill that appeared to satisfy Gov. Rick Perry.
“Today’s action by the Texas Legislature moves our state closer to securing a strong economy well into the future by providing more resources for building and maintaining a transportation system that will keep our economy growing and our population moving,” Perry said Monday after the legislature approved House Bill 1 and Senate Joint Resolution 1 that cover the funding and call for a constitutional amendment. Voters must approve the amendment in 2014.
The compromise that finally cleared the legislature provides $1.2 billion per year for transportation from existing fuel taxes and from the rainy day fund. About a quarter of the fuel tax revenue that had been diverted to education now goes entirely to roads. The remainder of the transportation funding would come from the rainy day fund under a formula that would be adjusted to protect the rainy day fund from falling below a certain level.
SJR 1 also requires the Texas Department of Transportation to identify $100 million of savings in the agency to apply to the agency’s debt service. The bill allows money from the state mobility fund to be used for projects serving the state’s ports, as well as highways.
TxDOT Executive Director Phil Wilson called the Legislature’s “commitment to funding transportation is a significant step in advancing key mobility and maintenance projects into the future.”
Barring another special session on education funding or some emergency issue, Perry’s third special session may be his last as governor. Perry announced in July that he would not seek an unprecedented fourth term as governor.
Perry, who recently signed a bill calling for more religious displays in public schools, has indicated that he will decide whether to run for president in 2016 after a period of “prayer and reflection.” His determination to win passage of a bill restricting abortion in two special sessions could serve as a platform for a run for the presidency, some political analysts have suggested.
With approval of the transportation funding measures, Perry has achieved a clean sweep on the issues he called the legislature back into session to resolve after the regular session ended in May.
An attempt to provide $850 million for transportation over two years from the state’s rainy day fund failed in the last day of the second special session last week. The House and Senate debated for months over protecting the rainy day fund while covering transportation costs.
TxDOT says it needs an additional $4 billion to cover existing needs. The approved version is estimated to raise $1.2 billion a year. Under the new legislation, lawmakers must vote in 2025 to continue the diversion or it would cease.
Perry, in his statement, noted “the fact that we are increasing funding for transportation without raising taxes, which sends an incredibly strong message that Texas is committed to keeping the wheels of commerce turning, while protecting taxpayers.”
