07.03.09
Special (session) Wrap-Ups
Via the AAS, In just 30 hours, Legislature sends 2 of 3 bills to Perry, then adourns. What needed to get done, safety net bill and transportation funding, got done. What didn’t need to get done, CDA’s and the “transportation bank”, didn’t.
After less than 30 hours of fast lawmaking, the Texas Legislature adjourned Thursday having resolved two of the three problems Gov. Rick Perry wanted them to fix.
Lawmakers approved and sent to Perry bills that will keep five state agencies — including the transportation, insurance and racing departments — in business for the next two years and that authorize the expenditure of $2 billion in voter-approved road-building bonds.
Kuff has much more, That’s a wrap for the special session. He also recalls Burka’s words on the House Democrats “chubbing” strategy from May.
Terri Hall is happy, Grassroots defeat GOLIATH: Stop the sale of TX roads to foreign corporations, protect public pension funds.
The only one’s that seem mad are the transportation officials in the North Texas area who built their transportation future around CDA’s, Road rage in Capitol.
Even so, senators insinuated that the “locals” in North Texas were somehow less than transparent in pushing to get these projects done. My reaction: Senators, how did you miss the news? It was in all the papers, on TV, etc. Press conferences and everything.
If you’re having trouble keeping up with developments, call Dallas City Council members or county commissioners who sit on the Regional Transportation Council. The panel has supported these kinds of projects, in light of meager transportation funding that the Legislature is willing to provide. These “locals” have cast their votes on transportation policy in open meetings that can be attended by anyone who might take an interest.
Even if the Senate committee meeting was stagecraft scripted to support the dumping of Rick Perry’s toll-road bill, the display did not become any of the committee members who heaped on the scorn.
I’m not here to support toll roads. I’d rather not pay tolls, but they’re better than no roads at all. I don’t see that lawmakers have a counteroffer to metro areas that are trying to keep up with exploding populations.
It doesn’t help that lawmakers explode in frustration. Their kind of road rage gets us nowhere.
I think North Texas, like the rest of the state, will be just fine if we can get our elected officials to fix transportation financing in Texas.
Over all the special session probably provided the best outcome we could have hoped for.