05.04.07
Amid All The Bluster Of Toll Moratoriums, Don’t Forget The TTC Is Not Included
As Ben Wear points out in this post. The Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) urged Gov. Perry to support the moratorium on the TTC. But the TTC is not included in the moratorium.
The Texas Farm Bureau today asked Gov. Rick Perry to sign a bill now on his desk “that would establish a two-year moratorium on the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor.” Which would be fine if there were such a bill.
Actually, HB 1892, the bill Perry has before him and must decide on by May 14 or so, does not apply a moratorium to the Trans-Texas Corridor. The bill, along with doing dozens of pages of other things, bans the state for two years from signing agreements with private companies to build, operate and take revenue from tollways.
But Gov. Perry has to actually accept the bill before he can veto it.
martha said,
May 6, 2007 at 12:53 am
Having the FARM BUREAU leap in after all the work has been done by others rings hollow. The FARM BUREAU endorsed PERRY for Governor and gave their AG-FUND PAC funds to assist in his re-election. Credibility should require more than lip service. The organization is like AARP in that it is dominated by its for profit business side (insurance, tires, etc.) which makes policy and should be viewed as a special interest entity which has nothing to do with agriculture. There is an inherent conflict of interest when an organization can claim to be representing its agricultural side and selling products at the same time. Most Farm Bureau members are not engaged in agriculture. Guess whose interests get served? AARP helped write the “special interest” Medicare Drug legislation and shares the top spots with Humana among the providers. Guess whose interests were served in the legislation?
Susan Garry said,
May 6, 2007 at 4:30 pm
I think that calling it a moratorium on the Corridor is a valid short-hand way of saying it. Cintra and TxDOT are still working on their Corridor plans on a separate track from the NEPA environmental process that is still underway. If the study that is supposed to occur during the moratorium results in modifications to or prohibition of the private toll deals, such as the Corridor, it would indeed affect the future signing of Corridor contracts, even though they might not have been signed during the two years.
Of course Martha is right about the Farm Bureau. People pleaded with them not to endorse Perry if they were serious about protecting farms from the Corridor, but . . .
wcnews said,
May 7, 2007 at 10:26 am
Yes, the TFB is definitely a day late and a many dollars short on this issue. The only question now is, is it better late than never? All I can say is probably.
The point I’ve been making ever since I started blogging on this issue is that the only way to get rid of the TTC was to get rid of Perry. For whatever reason that didn’t happen.
My point on the current state of things is that if it’s not specifically stated, that any moratorium includes the TTC than it doesn’t. Leave them a loop-hole and they’ll take it. My fear is that’s what’s occurring here.