Local-option transportation bill passes TX Senate, excludes Houston

SB855 excludes Harris County

Steve Hawley, Apr 15, 09.

The Texas Senate approved the local-option transportation bill on Tuesday, which would allow voters in 19 of the state’s most populous counties to fund transportation projects through local fees and taxes, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Harris County, Texas’ largest county by population, is the only one of the State’s five largest counties by population not included in the bill. Of the top ten Metropolitan regions in Texas, the only ones not included in the bill are Lubbock and Houston. According to a source at the Capitol who did not go on the record, the Houston region was specifically excluded from the bill by the Houston Senate delegation for reasons that are unclear at this point. The same source said that the Greater Houston Partnership and local elected officials from the region were lobbying in favor of Houston voters having the same options as Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and El Paso voters.

Senate Bill 855 would give voters the option to fund local transportation projects, including new roads and transit, through gasoline taxes, motor vehicle registration fees, parking fees for publicly-owned parking spaces, motor vehicle emissions fees, driver’s license renewal fees, or new resident registration fees.

The legislation was heavily amended prior to its passage. In order for the bill to take effect, one amendment stipulates that a constitutional amendment must be passed prohibiting gas tax revenue from being used for any purpose besides transportation. Currently, the Texas Constitution stipulates that 25 percent of motor fuel and lubricant tax revenue must fund education.

Should the local-option bill take effect, Houston’s exclusion could be detrimental to the region’s transportation funding in the future, according to Ashby Johnson of the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC). Johnson spoke at an H-GAC Technical Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday morning, saying that the bill might affect the region’s ability to leverage state and federal funds. If Dallas voters, for instance, choose to fund more transportation projects locally, the city can apply for more matching funds from the state and federal governments, money that might not be available to Houston.

Johnson said that some members of the Houston congressional delegation are discussing adding Harris County to the bill. Such an amendment would have to be inserted in the House version (House Bill 9) and allowed to stay during conference committee.

The bill was originally written with Dallas-Fort Worth rail projects in mind, but according to the Houston Chronicle, Austin, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Killeen-Temple, San Antonio, and Waco were included as well at the request of local officials.

The Chronicle notes that Sen. John Carona of Dallas, the bill’s author, favored a statewide solution to increase transportation funding but said that the local-option bill was better than nothing. A statewide solution, which would likely involve raising the gas tax, is politically unpopular.

The local-option bill must now be approved by the House, where it sits in the Transportation Committee, before being signed by Gov. Rick Perry. According to the Star-Telegram, Perry expressed reservations about the bill but said that any talk of a veto is premature.

From the Greater Houston Partnership’s 2009 Legislative Agenda (pdf):

The legislature should authorize local governments to levy taxes or fees dedicated to funding local transportation projects. Funding options such as increased local vehicle registration fees, local option sales tax, fuel fees and other potential sources should be made available to local governments through voter referenda or other legislatively approved means. Revenues generated from voter approved or legislatively approved local option funds could be used for roadways, transit, freight rail, commuter rail and other transportation infrastructure related improvements.

More from Megaregion

Comments

Page 1 of 1 pages