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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Texas is experiencing dramatic economic and |
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population growth, bringing in top companies and some of the |
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greatest talent in the nation, yet it is facing great challenges in |
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creating and maintaining the transportation system that Texans |
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need; and |
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WHEREAS, Texas continues to endure a structural funding |
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inequity that results in the state consistently receiving less than |
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its fair share of federal transportation dollars; and |
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WHEREAS, According to the Federal Highway Administration, in |
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federal fiscal year 2019, Texas is the only "donor" state, |
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receiving only 95 cents back for every dollar it sends to Washington |
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in federal fuel taxes; and |
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WHEREAS, The inequity of being the only "donor" state |
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amounted to a loss of up to $940 million by Texas motorists in |
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federal fiscal year 2019, with Texas taxpayers being forced to pay |
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for infrastructure in other states; and |
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WHEREAS, In federal fiscal year 2019, Texas was the only |
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state not to receive any benefit from the billions of dollars in |
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general fund revenue and other federal sources transferred to the |
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highway trust fund; and |
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WHEREAS, Congress uses 2000 census data in its formula |
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funding, and in 2000, the Texas population was 20 million; it has |
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since grown by nearly 50 percent and is now estimated at over 29 |
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million; and |
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WHEREAS, While the Texas congressional delegation has worked |
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to protect the state's dollars and improve Texas' "rate of return" |
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for many years, nearly two decades of population growth is not |
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reflected in the distribution of federal transportation dollars, |
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since Congress stopped updating performance inputs for the formulas |
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used for distributing federal aid apportionments and allocations to |
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states out of the highway trust fund account; and |
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WHEREAS, This imbalance weakens Texas' ability to provide a |
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safe transportation system, develop and build local projects, |
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address traffic congestion, move freight efficiently across the |
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state, and maintain the infrastructure that Texans deserve; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby respectfully urge the U.S. Congress to work collectively |
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toward a fair, equitable, and logical approach to federal |
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transportation funding in any new federal transportation |
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legislation that Congress considers; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That provisions in legislation should include but |
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not be limited to: |
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(a) Adjustments to ensure that each state receives an |
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aggregate apportionment equal to at least 95 percent of the |
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percentage of estimated tax payments attributable to highway users |
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in the state paid into the highway trust fund (other than the Mass |
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Transit Account) in the most recent fiscal year for which data are |
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available; and |
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(b) Updating of federal formulas for distributing funding |
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to states to include current data and metrics, including the most |
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recent decennial census; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
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Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
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members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
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this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |