Panel: Replace Five-Person TTC With Just One Transportation Commissioner

DALLAS - The Texas Transportation Commission, one of the state's largest debt issuers, should be eliminated and replaced with a single commissioner who would report to a legislative oversight committee, according to recommendations from the state Sunset Advisory Commission.

Confidence in TTC's supervision of the Texas Department of Transportation is so damaged that "significant changes are needed to begin this restoration," the report read. "Tweaking the status quo is simply not enough."

The report is the result of a year-long review under the state's sunset law, which requires every state agency to prove its value or face elimination. The latest report recommends funding TxDOT for another four years but eliminating the TTC.

Recommendations will go to the state Legislature, which convenes next January with transportation again ranking as a top-tier issue.

"This report proposes decisive action to address TxDOT's problems by establishing what is in effect a four-year 'legislative conservatorship' to return control over transportation policy to the Legislature, where it belongs," the Sunset Commission wrote.

In the 2007 session, some lawmakers called for the abolishment of TxDOT and the supervisory TTC, which decides how state and federal transportation funds will be allocated. The five-member commission was seen as "out-of-control" under its late chairman Ric Williamson, who died in December. Williamson, a close ally of Republican Gov. Rick Perry, was the state's leading advocate of building private toll roads under so-called comprehensive development agreements, or CDAs.

Under SB 792, the Legislature placed a two-year moratorium on private CDAs, excluding several that were already underway. The bill gave regional public toll authorities right of first refusal on toll projects in their area. Private toll developers, such asCintra Concessionees Infraestructuras de Transporte, could then bid on projects rejected by toll authorities.

TxDOT and the commission also ran afoul of legislators for claims that its funding was inadequate after lawmakers added $5 billion in bonding authority in 2007, nearly tripling the department's debt capacity. A public interest group opposed to tolling existing highways sued the TTC and TxDOT, claiming that an advertising campaign for tolling violated state laws on political campaigning by government agencies.

"The Sunset review of the Texas Department of Transportation occurred against a backdrop of distrust and frustration with the department and the demand for more transparency, accountability, and responsiveness," the report read. "Many expressed concerns that TxDOT was 'out of control,' advancing its own agenda against objections of both the Legislature and the public. Sunset staff found that this atmosphere of distrust permeated most of TxDOT's actions and determined that it could not be an effective state transportation agency if trust and confidence were not restored."

The report also called for more public involvement in planning, even though TxDOT's ad campaign to encourage public involvement in future funding decisions led to a lawsuit and investigation by state officials. The department has also held a series of meetings around the state on the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor - a $150 billion commercial road and rail complex - that drew hundreds of landowners and citizens, many angered by the project.

Although the governor would appoint the single commissioner, the appointee would report to a legislative committee on how his or her decisions were reached.

Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle said the governor would not mind the single commissioner model, but questioned the need for a different form of oversight.

"Don't we already have that in the legislative transportation and finance committees?" Castle asked. "I don't see how adding another layer of oversight is going to achieve the goals for Texas transportation."

Officials also questioned how a single commissioner could be more accountable than the current TTC, which meets on a regular schedule and has its meetings webcast on its Internet site. The five members, representing regions of the state, take recommendations from regional mobility authorities that make planning decisions on behalf of local governments.

After Williamson's death, the commission was led by interim chairwoman Hope Andrade, whom Perry replaced last month with his chief of staff Deirdre Delisi.

 

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