By: Simmons, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Nichols) H.B. No. 20
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 4, 2015;
  May 5, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Transportation; May 18, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable
  Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0;
  May 18, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 20 By:  Nichols
 
 
 
  COMMITTEE VOTE
 
 
         YeaNayAbsentPNV
         NicholsX
         HuffinesX
         EllisX
         FraserX
         GarciaX
         HallX
         HancockX
         KolkhorstX
         TaylorofCollinX
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the operations of and transportation planning and
  expenditures by the Texas Department of Transportation and planning
  organizations.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 201.809, Transportation Code, is amended
  by adding Subsections (e) through (i) to read as follows:
         (e)  The commission by rule shall develop and implement a
  performance-based planning and programming process dedicated to
  providing the executive and legislative branches of government with
  indicators that quantify and qualify progress toward attaining all
  department goals and objectives established by the legislature and
  the commission.
         (f)  The commission by rule shall develop and implement
  performance metrics and performance measures as part of:
               (1)  the review of strategic planning in the statewide
  transportation plan, rural transportation plans, and unified
  transportation program;
               (2)  the evaluation of decision-making on projects
  selected for funding in the unified transportation program and
  statewide transportation improvement program; and
               (3)  the evaluation of project delivery for projects in
  the department's letting schedule.
         (g)  The commission by rule shall adopt and shall
  periodically review performance metrics and measures to:
               (1)  assess how well the transportation system is
  performing and operating;
               (2)  provide the department, legislature,
  stakeholders, and public with information to support decisions in a
  manner that is accessible and understandable to the public;
               (3)  assess the effectiveness and efficiency of
  transportation projects and service;
               (4)  demonstrate transparency and accountability; and
               (5)  address other issues the commission considers
  necessary.
         (h)  The requirement for the commission to develop and
  implement a performance-based planning and programming process
  does not replace or alter the requirement of the commission or
  department to comply with the budgetary performance measures for
  each biennium as established in the General Appropriations Act. The
  commission may not rely on the satisfaction of the requirement to
  report budgetary performance measures as satisfying the
  requirements imposed under this section.
         (i)  The commission shall develop and implement periodic
  reporting schedules for all performance metrics and measures
  required under this section.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter P, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 201.9901 to read as follows:
         Sec. 201.9901.  DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
               (1)  "Planning organization" means:
                     (A)  a metropolitan planning organization; or
                     (B)  for an area that is not within the boundaries
  of a metropolitan planning organization, the department district
  that serves the area.
               (2)  "Project" means a connectivity or new capacity
  roadway project in the region of a planning organization. The term
  does not include a safety project, bridge project, federal
  discretionary project, maintenance project, or preservation
  project.
               (3)  "Region" means the area for which a planning
  organization develops plans under this subchapter.
               (4)  "Transportation official" means an official in a
  political subdivision who has responsibility for planning and
  implementation of transportation projects.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter P, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 201.9911 to read as follows:
         Sec. 201.9911.  PLANNING ORGANIZATION 10-YEAR PLAN. (a)
  Each planning organization shall develop a 10-year transportation
  plan for the use of the funding allocated to the region. The
  department shall assist the planning organizations by providing in
  a timely manner such information as is reasonably requested by the
  planning organizations.
         (b)  The first four years of the plan shall be developed to
  meet the transportation improvement plan requirements of 23 U.S.C.
  Section 134 or 135, as applicable.
         (c)  For an area that is not within the boundaries of a
  metropolitan planning organization, the department district shall
  develop the 10-year transportation plan with input from municipal
  and county elected officials and transportation officials in the
  region.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter P, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Sections 201.9932 and 201.9991 to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 201.9932.  PROJECT RECOMMENDATION CRITERIA. Each
  planning organization shall develop its own project recommendation
  criteria, which must include consideration of:
               (1)  projected improvements to congestion and safety;
               (2)  projected effects on economic development
  opportunities for residents of the region;
               (3)  available funding;
               (4)  effects on the environment, including air quality;
               (5)  socioeconomic effects, including
  disproportionately high and adverse health or environmental
  effects on minority or low-income neighborhoods; and
               (6)  any other factors deemed appropriate by the
  planning organization.
         Sec. 201.9991.  PRIORITIZATION AND APPROVAL OF PROJECTS BY
  COMMISSION. (a) The commission by rule shall prioritize and
  approve projects included in the statewide transportation plan
  under Section 201.601 in order to provide financial assistance
  under this chapter.
         (b)  The commission by rule shall establish a
  performance-based process for setting funding levels for the
  categories of projects in the department's unified transportation
  program.
         (c)  The commission by rule shall establish a scoring system
  for prioritizing projects for which financial assistance is sought
  from the commission by planning organizations. The criteria used to
  score projects must take into consideration the department's
  strategic goals as approved by the commission. The system must
  account for the diverse needs of the state so as to fairly allocate
  funding to all regions of the state.
         (d)  The commission may make discretionary funding decisions
  for no more than 10 percent of the current biennial budget of the
  department.
         SECTION 5.  Section 223.241, Transportation Code, is amended
  by adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
               (3)  "Highway project" means:
                     (A)  a single highway facility between two defined
  points in a corridor; or
                     (B)  two or more contiguous highway facilities.
         SECTION 6.  Section 223.242, Transportation Code, is amended
  by adding Subsections (b-1), (f), and (g) and amending Subsections
  (d) and (d-1) to read as follows:
         (b-1)  A design-build contract under this subchapter may
  include a maintenance agreement requiring a design-build
  contractor to maintain a project for an initial term of not longer
  than five years. The maintenance agreement may authorize the
  department, in its sole discretion, to exercise options extending
  the term of the maintenance agreement for additional periods beyond
  the initial maintenance term with each additional period being not
  longer than five years. The department shall obtain pricing for the
  maintenance work for each maintenance term. The department may
  require separate pricing for the maintenance work to be performed
  for each year of a maintenance term.
         (d)  The department may enter into a design-build contract
  for a highway project with a construction cost estimate of $250
  [$50] million or more to the department.
         (d-1)  The department may not enter into more than three
  contracts under this section in each fiscal year[.   This subsection
  expires August 31, 2015].
         (f)  The department shall not use the design-build method for
  the construction, expansion, extension, rehabilitation,
  alteration, or repair of a highway project if the project is
  substantially designed by the department or another entity other
  than the design-build contractor.
         (g)  The department shall not include more than one highway
  project in a design-build contract.
         SECTION 7.  (a) In this section:
               (1)  "Commission" means the Texas Transportation
  Commission.
               (2)  "Department" means the Texas Department of
  Transportation.
         (b)  Not later than the earlier of 30 days after the
  effective date of this Act or September 1, 2015:
               (1)  the speaker of the house of representatives shall
  appoint nine members to a House Select Committee on Transportation
  Planning and designate one member as chair; and
               (2)  the lieutenant governor shall appoint five members
  to a Senate Select Committee on Transportation Planning and
  designate one member as chair.
         (b-1)  In making appointments under Subsection (b) of this
  section, the speaker and the lieutenant governor should consider
  members that reflect diverse constituencies with respect to:
               (1)  geographic areas in the state;
               (2)  urban and rural areas; and
               (3)  ethnicity.
         (c)  The committees established under this section may meet
  separately at the call of the chair of the committee or jointly at
  the call of both chairs. In joint meetings, the chairs shall act as
  joint chairs.
         (d)  The committees established under this section, meeting
  separately or jointly, shall review, study, and evaluate:
               (1)  department projections regarding the revenue
  needed by the department to maintain current maintenance,
  congestion, and connectivity conditions;
               (2)  the development of funding categories, the
  allocation of funding to such categories by formula, project
  selection authority for each funding category, and the development
  of project selection criteria for commission, department, and
  district-selected projects;
               (3)  department rules and policies regarding the
  development and implementation of performance-based scoring and
  decision making for project prioritization and selection of
  commission, department, and district-selected projects;
               (4)  the use and utilization of alternative methods of
  financing that have been authorized by the legislature for
  projects;
               (5)  performance metrics and measurement tools used by
  the department to evaluate the performance of a department project
  or program;
               (6)  the department's collaboration with state elected
  officials, local governments, government trade associations,
  metropolitan planning organizations, regional mobility
  authorities, and other entities when adopting rules or formulating
  policies;
               (7)  any proposed rule, policy, program, or plan of the
  commission or department of statewide significance;
               (8)  any possible benefits of utilizing zero-based
  budgeting principles; and
               (9)  any other matter the committee considers
  appropriate.
         (e)  Following consideration of the factors described by
  Subsection (d) of this section, the committees shall prepare a
  written report on the reviewed subjects and shall, not later than
  November 1, 2016, provide to the legislature the report.
         (f)  The committees established under this section may
  exercise any power of a committee of their respective chambers and
  any powers of a joint committee. For the purposes of this section,
  the committees established under this section are considered a
  joint committee and the cost of operation of each committee may be
  borne in the same manner as the cost of a joint committee. The Texas
  Legislative Council shall provide funding for the operations of the
  committees. To the extent not inconsistent with this section, the
  joint rules adopted by the 84th Legislature for the administration
  of joint interim legislative study committees apply to the
  committees established under this section.
         (g)  Not later than December 1, 2015, the department shall
  submit an initial report to the select committees. The report shall
  provide information necessary for the select committees to review,
  study, and evaluate the factors described by Subsections (d)(1),
  (2), and (3) of this section. Not later than May 31, 2016, the
  department shall submit to the select committees a preliminary
  report on the remaining factors described by Subsection (d) of this
  section.
         (h)  This section expires January 9, 2017.
         SECTION 8.  (a)  Section 223.242(b-1), Transportation Code,
  as added by this Act, applies only to a contract entered into on or
  after the effective date of this Act. A contract entered into
  before that date is governed by the law as it existed on the date the
  contract was entered into, and that law is continued in effect for
  that purpose.
         (b)  Sections 223.242(f) and (g), Transportation Code, as
  added by this Act, apply only to a highway project for which a
  request for qualifications is issued on or after the effective date
  of this Act. A highway project for which a request for
  qualifications is issued before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect on the date the request for
  qualifications was issued, and that law is continued in effect for
  that purpose.
         SECTION 9.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect August 31, 2015.
 
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