DALLAS - A bill introduced by Texas Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Robert Nichols and backed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick would dedicate a portion of the sales tax on car and truck sales to transportation projects.
The two key leaders said Senate Bill 5 and companion measure Senate Joint Resolution 5 would call a voter referendum on the proposal if it passes the Texas Legislature and is signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Nichols estimated the revenue generated for road and bridge projects to be about $2 billion per year in the near future. SB5 would dedicate automotive sales tax revenue in excess of $2.5 billion to transportation funding.
By the next decade, population and economic growth could push the revenue for transportation to more than $3 billion, Nichols said. The fact that the bill provides a stable, long-term revenue source to TxDOT is what makes the proposal so useful, he said.
"For it to really work, it's not so much how much they get next year or the year after, TxDOT needs to know six years out, eight years out, so we can do the long term major projects that are needed in this state," Nichols said.
The additional revenue would provide debt service on bonds for projects across the state.
The new funds would fit into the 2018-2019 budget under the current version of the bill, but Nichols said that if the election were early enough and the math worked out, then new funds could go into the next biennial budget currently being drafted by lawmakers.
The fact that 80% of voters approved $2 billion in additional road funding last election shows that the public wants to fund transportation costs, Nichols said.
Patrick agreed and added that ensuring a robust network of roads and highways was critical to the future of the state.
"We are going to address in the Texas Senate the needs of transportation in our state because our economy depends on it," Patrick said. "Not just the time lost in traffic for families commuting, but of moving goods and services. It's very important, and this is a very sound approach that Senator Nichols has and we are going to move the bill."
Patrick's backing is significant because he is the presiding officer of the state Senate and controls the flow of legislation and committee assignments.
"It is my intent to move SB 5 and SJR 5 which will create additional money for transportation without increasing taxes on the driving public," said Patrick.
Transportation funding is a chronic problem in the Republican-controlled Legislature because no lawmaker wants to be accused of raising taxes. The 20-cents-per-gallon state fuel tax, which supplies the lion's share of transportation funding in the state, has not changed since 1991.
Proposition 1, approved by Texas voters Nov. 4, would divert half of the oil and gas severance tax that currently goes into the state's Rainy Day Fund to the State Highway Fund. The amount to be diverted is estimated at $1 billion per year.
