1-1 1 1-2 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 580 1-3 WHEREAS, David M. Laney, chairman of the board and 1-4 president of the law firm Jenkens and Gilchrist, was appointed 1-5 by Governor George W. Bush to the Texas Transportation Commission 1-6 in April, 1995, designating him its chairman and Commissioner of 1-7 Transportation; and 1-8 WHEREAS, As Commissioner of Transportation, Mr. Laney 1-9 championed efforts to increase the Texas share of federal 1-10 transportation dollars, working with the Texas congressional 1-11 delegation and the Coalition for a Surface Transportation Equity 1-12 Program for the 21st Century (the STEP 21 Coalition) to guarantee 1-13 that every state receive a fairer return on its contributions to 1-14 the Highway Trust Fund; and 1-15 WHEREAS, In addition to a 40 percent increase in federal 1-16 highway funding, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century 1-17 (TEA 21), through the efforts of the STEP 21 Coalition, crafted 1-18 "real world" funding formulas and guarantees states a return of at 1-19 least 90.5 cents for each dollar paid into the Highway Trust Fund, 1-20 giving Texas an increase of more than $700 million annually in 1-21 federal highway funds; and 1-22 WHEREAS, With David Laney at its helm, the Texas 2-1 Transportation Commission has begun development of Interstate 69, 2-2 our country's next great north-south trade corridor, almost half 2-3 of which is in Texas; and 2-4 WHEREAS, David Laney has supported increased federal 2-5 funding for the nation's general aviation and reliever airports, 2-6 which Congress provided in the historic Wendall H. Ford Aviation 2-7 Investment Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR 21); and 2-8 WHEREAS, David Laney has been a strong and consistent 2-9 advocate for our state's small urban and rural transit systems, 2-10 the most extensive in the nation, working closely with the Texas 2-11 congressional delegation to provide much-needed federal funding 2-12 necessary to enable these systems to replace vehicles that have 2-13 served well beyond their expected life; and 2-14 WHEREAS, Recognizing that highways on the 2-15 United States-Mexico border in Texas are already strained by 2-16 the demands from international trade and that large increases 2-17 in that demand are expected, David Laney led the commission to 2-18 create a $1.8 billion initiative to increase funding for highways 2-19 in the area; and 2-20 WHEREAS, David Laney encouraged the Texas Department of 2-21 Transportation to investigate and develop more flexible financing 2-22 tools to better respond to our state's exploding transportation 2-23 needs; and 2-24 WHEREAS, David Laney worked with the Texas Legislature to 3-1 create the Texas Department of Transportation's Texas Turnpike 3-2 Authority Division, bringing with it toll-funding options for the 3-3 state's major transportation projects; and 3-4 WHEREAS, David Laney strongly supported and encouraged the 3-5 recent successful effort by the Turnpike Division to obtain an 3-6 $800 million loan under the federal Transportation Infrastructure 3-7 Finance and Innovation Act for the Central Texas Turnpike Project; 3-8 and 3-9 WHEREAS, David Laney led efforts in the Texas Legislature to 3-10 establish the Texas State Infrastructure Bank, as authorized by 3-11 the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995, and that bank 3-12 has helped Texas communities to accelerate important transportation 3-13 improvements; and 3-14 WHEREAS, Throughout his tenure on the Texas Transportation 3-15 Commission, David Laney recognized that the roads and bridges that 3-16 make up the Texas Highway System are also works of public art, 3-17 championing an initiative to raise awareness of bridge aesthetics 3-18 throughout the department while maintaining the good fiscal 3-19 stewardship for which TXDOT has long been known; and 3-20 WHEREAS, The foresight and initiative David Laney 3-21 demonstrated in negotiating the purchase of the South Orient 3-22 Railroad has protected and preserved a valuable rail corridor 3-23 into Mexico, rail service to West Texas, and an economic asset 3-24 to future generations of Texans; and 4-1 WHEREAS, Both as Commissioner of Transportation and as a 4-2 member of the Texas Transportation Commission, David Laney has 4-3 demonstrated strong, confident, and visionary leadership, always 4-4 looking both above and beyond highways and well into the future; 4-5 and 4-6 WHEREAS, David M. Laney stepped down as Commissioner of 4-7 Transportation in April, 2000, and has completed his term as a 4-8 member of the commission; and 4-9 WHEREAS, Texas can better respond to the demands of growing 4-10 regional and international trade because of David Laney's leadership; 4-11 and 4-12 WHEREAS, In addition to the nation's premier transportation 4-13 system, David Laney's legacy includes a transportation agency with 4-14 an expanded menu of financial and operational tools to maintain and 4-15 improve the safety and effectiveness of the transportation system 4-16 with greater environmental sensitivity; and 4-17 WHEREAS, The people of Texas and the nation will miss 4-18 David Laney's dedication to transportation and his strong 4-19 leadership on the commission; now, therefore, be it 4-20 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 4-21 77th Legislature, hereby express appreciation to David M. Laney 4-22 for a job well done and wish him even greater success in his 4-23 future endeavors; and, be it further 5-1 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for 5-2 Mr. Laney as an expression of highest esteem from the Texas Senate. 5-3 Shapiro 5-4 Armbrister Gallegos Ogden 5-5 Barrientos Harris Shapleigh 5-6 Bernsen Haywood Sibley 5-7 Bivins Jackson Staples 5-8 Brown Lindsay Truan 5-9 Cain Lucio Van de Putte 5-10 Carona Madla Wentworth 5-11 Duncan Moncrief West 5-12 Ellis Nelson Whitmire 5-13 Fraser Zaffirini 5-14 Ratliff, President of the Senate 5-15 ______________________________________ 5-16 President of the Senate 5-17 I hereby certify that the above 5-18 Resolution was adopted by the Senate 5-19 on March 29, 2001. 5-20 ______________________________________ 5-21 Secretary of the Senate 5-22 ______________________________________ 5-23 Member, Texas Senate