By Alexander                                    H.C.R. No. 38

      75R2590 CDD-D                           

                             HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 1-1           WHEREAS, Though Texans are faced with pressing surface

 1-2     transportation needs that require immediate attention and revenue

 1-3     to remedy existing problems and to keep pace with growing demands,

 1-4     the state continues to lose money each year under the current

 1-5     federal funding formula that requires the state to contribute more

 1-6     to the national Highway Trust Fund than it is apportioned back; and

 1-7           WHEREAS, The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act

 1-8     of 1991 (ISTEA) was created to sustain and enhance a strong

 1-9     national surface transportation network through the National

1-10     Highway System and to expand other programs to ensure that states'

1-11     transportation plans are intermodal, environmentally sound, and

1-12     energy efficient; and

1-13           WHEREAS, Since its passage, however, funding provisions

1-14     contained in the ISTEA have traditionally benefited some states at

1-15     the expense of others, inflicting a heavy penalty that, in Texas

1-16     alone, has cost this state millions of dollars that could have been

1-17     used to repair and augment the Texas highway system; and

1-18           WHEREAS, The expiration of ISTEA on September 30, 1997, and

1-19     the disparity in the current apportionment of highway funds have

1-20     prompted a coalition of more than 20 states, including Texas, to

1-21     join together to develop the Streamlined Transportation Efficiency

1-22     Program for the 21st Century (STEP 21); while acknowledging the

1-23     need for a broadly focused national surface transportation policy,

1-24     the program recognizes that the surface transportation needs of

 2-1     each state and region differ greatly and promotes a simplified

 2-2     federal surface transportation program that would significantly

 2-3     benefit mobility and the national economy while giving each state

 2-4     more flexibility to respond to diverse local needs; and

 2-5           WHEREAS, Currently before Congress in the form of the ISTEA

 2-6     Integrity Restoration Act, the STEP 21 program seeks to revise the

 2-7     apportionment adjustment formula to ensure that all states receive

 2-8     at least a 95 percent return on tax payments made to the Highway

 2-9     Trust Fund while continuing to provide an adequate level of funding

2-10     for states with special circumstances; it would further provide

2-11     states with more autonomy to respond to their specific state and

2-12     local transportation needs, would consolidate and streamline

2-13     various federal highway programs, and would distribute new program

2-14     funds using simplified, objective criteria; and

2-15           WHEREAS, The STEP 21 proposal would bring more Texas motor

2-16     fuels tax dollars back to the state, giving state officials greater

2-17     control over where available surface transportation funds should be

2-18     spent and providing them with the flexibility to use funds from

2-19     various sources to meet Texas' transportation needs; now,

2-20     therefore, be it

2-21           RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas

2-22     hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to

2-23     support the passage of the Streamlined Transportation Efficiency

2-24     Program for the 21st Century (STEP 21); and, be it further

2-25           RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas

2-26     hereby encourage the members of the Texas delegation of the

2-27     Congress of the United States to cosponsor the ISTEA Integrity

 3-1     Restoration Act; and, be it further

 3-2           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official

 3-3     copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to

 3-4     the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of

 3-5     the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of

 3-6     the Texas congressional delegation with the request that this

 3-7     resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a

 3-8     memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.