By: Staples S.C.R. No. 10
(In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2005; March 21, 2005, read
first time and referred to Committee on Transportation and Homeland
Security; April 25, 2005, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 25, 2005, sent to printer.)
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The current federal funding system for
transportation does not provide enough flexibility to Texas and
other states regarding tools to deliver needed transportation
projects faster and more efficiently; and
WHEREAS, Federal funding for highway, highway safety, and
transit programs is included in a surface transportation bill
passed by Congress every six years; the most recent such bill, the
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, expired in 2003 and
was followed by a series of short-term extensions to ensure a steady
stream of funding to the states; and
WHEREAS, The 109th Congress is debating legislation to
reauthorize the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to
provide federal transportation funding to states over the next six
years, and it is critically important to include provisions
encompassing Texas' priorities for flexible transportation
financing and project delivery; and
WHEREAS, These priorities, which could significantly advance
the transportation system in Texas, include increased flexibility
with regard to design-build contracting, multimodal transportation
project environmental review, interstate tolling, toll credit
calculation, bond financing, the federal Borders and Corridors
Program, the delivery of federal funds, and right-of-way
acquisition; and
WHEREAS, A top Texas priority for the Transportation Equity
Act for the 21st Century reauthorization legislation is a provision
to remove federal restrictions on state procurement processes and
allow a state highway contractor to perform environmental review as
well as design and construction under a single design-build
contract, which the Texas Department of Transportation currently
uses to combine design and construction of state highway projects
into one contract, as opposed to the traditional approach of having
separate contracts for each sequential project phase; and
WHEREAS, Another priority is allowing states to take a
concurrent and segmented approach to environmental reviews so that
they could begin environmental and design work on one part of a
multimodal transportation project--which could involve transit
systems, toll roads, highway facilities, and other modes of
transportation--at the same time that construction begins on
another segment of the project; and
WHEREAS, The Texas Department of Transportation also
prioritizes eliminating federal restrictions on tolling interstate
highways and on the use of toll revenues; additional state options
for interstate tolling would significantly expand Texas' ability to
address congestion and mobility issues more effectively; and
WHEREAS, Priorities also include amending the current toll
credit calculation and providing states with greater flexibility in
using toll credits to finance projects; while it is useful that
states can apply the value of certain highway expenditures funded
with toll revenues toward the required state match on projects
receiving federal funds, the credit should be calculated on a pro
rata basis that takes into account the state level of financial
investment in a project funded by toll revenues; and
WHEREAS, Authorizing the use of private activity bonds for a
broad range of surface transportation projects is another priority;
currently, highway, rail, and intermodal surface projects, which
provide a convenient transition from one mode of travel to another,
are ineligible for private sector investment; and
WHEREAS, The increasing level of truck traffic at Texas ports
of entry is the reason behind prioritizing realignment of the
federal Borders and Corridors Program; over time, this program has
evolved away from its core functions of promoting national economic
growth in relation to international trade and facilitating the safe
movement of people and goods across United States borders; and
WHEREAS, If Texas receives designation as a pilot state for a
proposed federal program to test a performance-based management
approach to the delivery of federal funds, our state could manage
federal-aid transportation programs, including Interstate
Maintenance, National Highway System, Surface Transportation, and
Highway Safety Improvement, as a single block grant; and
WHEREAS, Texas' transportation priorities to accelerate
project delivery also include allowing states to use federal funds
to pay options to property owners for potential acquisition of
right-of-way, similar to normal right-of-way acquisition; and
WHEREAS, Not only is Texas' highway capacity falling behind
demand, its rail infrastructure lags in efficiency as well; the
ability to dedicate a portion of federal highway funds to relocate
rail outside of cities and to support rail improvements would have a
significant impact on the free flow of traffic and safer movement of
hazardous material; and
WHEREAS, Other states occasionally run the risk of allowing
their contract authority for United States Federal Highway
Administration programs to lapse due to an inability to obligate
those funds before they expire; states that have available
nonfederal funds can provide financial assistance to these states
by purchasing their unused contract authority, thereby increasing
federal funds; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
include in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
reauthorization legislation provisions encompassing Texas'
priorities for flexible transportation financing and project
delivery; these provisions should include but are not limited to:
(1) allowing design-build authority for contractors
to include environmental review, design, and construction of a
project under a single contract;
(2) allowing concurrent environmental review for
multimodal transportation projects;
(3) providing options for tolling interstate highways
in Texas (within any limitations of state law);
(4) implementing a pro rata toll credit calculation;
(5) allowing private activity bonds for
transportation projects;
(6) realigning the Borders and Corridors Program;
(7) including Texas in the surface transportation
system performance pilot program;
(8) expanding options for federal reimbursement for
right-of-way acquisition;
(9) allowing states to dedicate a portion of federal
highway funds to relocate rail outside of cities and to support rail
improvements; and
(10) allowing states to purchase unused contract
authority for United States Federal Highway Administration
programs from other states; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the
senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the
Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.
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