TxDOT sunset bill passes Senate

Conference committee is next

Steve Hawley, May 26, 09.

UPDATE (5/28/09, 4:01 pm): The House has instructed its five conference committee members to oppose the local-option amendment and support a phase-out of red light cameras, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The vote is nonbinding, but four of the five conferees voted to oppose the local-option amendment. Meanwhile, the Dallas Morning News Transportation blog notes that 17 senators sent a letter to the House expressing support for the local-option provision.

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The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) restructuring bill passed the Senate last night on a 22-9 vote, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The bill now goes to conference committee, where the differences between the House and Senate version will be ironed out. The conference committee must approve the changes by Sunday.

The Senate version contains fewer changes than the House version. It would retain the five-person appointed commission while allowing TxDOT to retain control of its transportation planning activities. The House bill would have established a 15-member elected board and allowed local Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) such as the Houston-Galveston Area Council to determine how to spend 90 percent of TxDOT’s construction money.

The bill also includes a local-option amendment, which would allow voters in up to five MPOs selected by TxDOT ~~five metropolitan areas—but not including Houston—~~ to approve new taxes and fees to fund local transportation projects. The Senate passed a similar bill in April, but it was significantly altered in the House to include every county in any MPO statewide. Under the Senate amendment, TxDOT would select between one and five MPOs as Urban Passenger Rail Demonstration Programs, and voters in member counties could select a gas tax, vehicle registration fee, or driver’s license fee to fund local projects. To be eligible, an MPO must contain at least one county of 300,000 or more, with the exception of the Waco region, which was added by another amendment.

The Senate version of the TxDOT bill also would allow red-light cameras, while the House version would phase them out. Both versions include a legislative oversight committee and would prohibit TxDOT employees from lobbying at the state level. The Senate bill would also create a separate Department of Motor Vehicles to handle all vehicle registrations and titling, functions currently performed by TxDOT.