New local-option gas tax bill includes Houston, but unlikely to pass

Floor vote is unlikely

Steve Hawley, May 12, 09.

UPDATE (05/14/09, 9:45 am): The local-option bill is unlikely to come up for a full vote, according to Rep. Joe Pickett as quoted in the Dallas Morning News Transportation Blog.

—————
A statewide version of the local-option transportation bill passed the House Transportation Committee on Tuesday, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

An earlier version, which passed the Senate in April, had excluded the Houston region despite petitions from Harris and Fort Bend counties and the Greater Houston Partnership. According to Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, who spoke at a Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) Transportation Policy Council meeting in April, the Houston-area Senate delegation was unresponsive to their efforts.

The current version, which was re-worked by Rep. Joe Pickett of El Paso, would allow voters in counties belonging to a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) such as H-GAC to approve a 10-cent gas tax increase for local transportation projects. Texas has 25 such MPOs.

The original bill had provided five other funding options, including new resident and vehicle registration fees, in addition to the gas tax. The current legislation prohibits using the gas tax revenues for toll projects. Dallas-Fort Worth officials recently estimated that a 10-cent gas tax increase would provide the region with an additional $370 million per year, which the officials could use to develop a 200-mile commuter rail system and improve local highways

The bill now goes to the House Calendars Committee, which will decide whether or not it advances to the full House for a vote.

The Star-Telegram also notes that the Transportation Committee approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would eliminate so-called “diversions” of the gas tax - currently, 25 percent of the gas tax goes to the Available School Fund - and allow for fluctuations in the gas tax. The gas tax, which has not been increased since 1991, would be allowed to rise or fall up to three cents per gallon every two-year legislative cycle. The gas tax fluctuations would correspond to changes in producer prices.