By: Lucio S.B. No. 1502
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the planning, programming, and funding mechanisms of
1-3 the Texas Department of Transportation.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. DEFINITION. In this Act, "department" means the
1-6 Texas Department of Transportation.
1-7 SECTION 2. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING REGIONS. (a) The
1-8 department shall establish transportation planning regions based on
1-9 logical geographical boundaries and the prerogatives of local
1-10 interests.
1-11 (b) The number of planning regions and their geographical
1-12 boundaries should be established through a consensus-based process
1-13 that is led by the department but incorporates the needs and
1-14 interests of local governments.
1-15 (c) After the regions are defined, the department shall
1-16 assist local officials in establishing regional planning advisory
1-17 bodies and work in partnership with the planning advisory bodies to
1-18 select projects for the region.
1-19 SECTION 3. STATEWIDE ADVISORY COMMITTEE. A Statewide
1-20 Advisory Committee is created. The department shall work with the
1-21 committee and the regional planning advisory committees to
1-22 establish a 10-year "Statewide Mega-Project" transportation
1-23 program.
2-1 SECTION 4. CATEGORIZATION OF FUNDS. (a) The department
2-2 shall eliminate its current funding category structure, and combine
2-3 funds into two primary categories:
2-4 (1) mega-projects (40 percent of total construction
2-5 funding); and
2-6 (2) regional programs (60 percent of total
2-7 construction funding).
2-8 (b) The department shall abandon all non-mandatory funding
2-9 categories and manage its funding through two primary pools of
2-10 funding. The first must combine all of the current statewide
2-11 funding categories and focuses on mega-projects throughout this
2-12 state. The second must combine all of the district bank balance
2-13 programs into one fund that is allocated by formula and programmed
2-14 based on consensus decision by the engineering districts and the
2-15 appropriate regional planning advisory bodies.
2-16 SECTION 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF ALLOCATION FORMULA. (a) The
2-17 department and the Statewide Advisory Committee shall establish a
2-18 new allocation formula for overall construction funding. The
2-19 formula must include a minimum guarantee funding level for planning
2-20 regions equal to 90 percent of a region's estimated highway fund
2-21 contributions. The minimum guarantee level should apply to Regional
2-22 Program allocations on a annual basis, and mega-project funding
2-23 over the life of the program.
2-24 (b) The minimum-guarantee level should be established as a
2-25 percentage of each planning region's estimated highway revenue
2-26 contributions, using the department's calculated percentage
3-1 methodology or another formula developed with consensus of the
3-2 statewide advisory committee.
3-3 (c) This minimum guarantee level must apply to all
3-4 construction funds and not be limited to system preservation
3-5 funding, and be set at a level that returns most of the funds that
3-6 a region pays in, while allowing the agency the flexibility to
3-7 reallocate some funding if appropriate.
3-8 SECTION 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF FUNDING ALLOCATION. The
3-9 department shall implement the new funding allocation over the next
3-10 four years, and develop a plan, in consultation with the Statewide
3-11 Advisory Committee and regional planning advisory bodies, to avoid
3-12 disruption of existing project requirements.
3-13 SECTION 7. ANNUAL REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. The department
3-14 shall submit an annual report to the Legislature documenting the
3-15 status of the mega-projects program and the ability of district
3-16 offices and local governments to implement projects and achieve the
3-17 anticipated system performance improvements.
3-18 SECTION 8. PUBLIC ACCESS TO DEPARTMENT PROCESSES. (a) The
3-19 department shall make its highway construction project programming,
3-20 planning, and funding allocation processes more available to the
3-21 general public. The department shall publish information regarding
3-22 those processes on the department's Internet Web site.
3-23 (b) The Web site must include the funding categories and
3-24 formulae, projects by transportation district in the unified
3-25 transportation program (UTP) and in the statewide transportation
3-26 improvement program (STIP). Other transportation district project
4-1 and funding information must include project lettings by district,
4-2 project status (Priority 1 and Priority 2), construction project
4-3 status, ranking according to the cost effectiveness index (CEI),
4-4 the CEI index, and ranking according to disadvantaged county
4-5 status.
4-6 (d) The department's Internet Web site must also include:
4-7 (1) a glossary of terms and frequently asked
4-8 questions; and
4-9 (2) a Web page that provides project status and
4-10 funding information about this state's priority corridors and
4-11 transportation projects underway or planned for those corridors.
4-12 SECTION 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect September
4-13 1, 2001.