the TTC with 9 lives

The AP is reporting that TXDOT has once again "killed" the TTC. Back in January they renamed it "Innovative Connectivity in Texas|Vision 2009".

Transportation Commissioner Bill Meadows said, "The reason that's being given for the no-build option is that people don't want it. They said 'Hell no.' "

The Ap reports this:

Planning for the corridor has nevertheless quietly continued. A consortium led by Cintra of Madrid, Spain, and Zachry Construction of San Antonio had prepared a master plan, and a detailed environmental study of the TTC-35 corridor was under way.

Meadows said that was all ending.

"Formally, absolutely, TTC-35 is dead. We are canceling the contract with Zachry," he said.

Information from: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/6654879.html

Report that moratorium bill may not affect TTC

Fri, 18 May 2007 16:56:17
Have We Been Sold Out?

Afraid So!

By the time you read this the Governor's office may have already out maneuvered us all by effectively removing the Trans Texas Corridor TTC-35 from any moratorium limitations in SB792.

The Governor's office has targeted seven House amendments for removal.

Things are moving so fast there may be no time for anyone outside a small circle of key legislators to impact the outcome. By the end of today it is likely that Governor Perry will have his way and the citizens of Texas will have been sold out at the highest levels of Government.

The Governor's representatives Kris Heckmann and Ken Armbrister arrived to visit senators shortly after 11:00am this morning. About that same time a three page analysis/summary of SB792 amendments reportedly prepared by TxDOT was circulating.

CorridorWatch has been told that seven amendments has been targeted for removal. Among those are one by Pickett (6) effecting the El Paso RMA; one by Callegari (12) they believe was misdrafted; three by Kolkhorst (13, 15, & 16) effecting TTC35, CDA penalty payment funds, and a prohibition of investment firms being on both sides of a CDA; one by Quintanilla (22) a county contract provision; and, one by Y. Davis (27) requiring land taken by condemnation be offered back to the owner is unused.

Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst met on the floor of the Senate this morning with Senators Williams, Carona, and Nichols in an apparent attempt to convince Nichols to sign off on the prearranged deal.

It was Dewhurst that forced SB792 in to play in the first place making his intent very clear. As expected the Senate members of the conference committee are stacked in favor of producing the Governor's outcome. With only three votes out of five required it is unlikely that Nichols will find enough support to preserve the moratorium.

You may recall Austin political insiders predicted that the legislature would fold under the Governors' pressure. We had given them more credit, but that may prove to be sorely undeserved.

Conference Committee Members.

• Senator Tommy Williams, Chair 512.463.
• Senator John Carona 512.463.0116
• Senator Eliot Shapleigh 512.463.0129
• Senator Kim Brimer 512.463.0110
• Senator Robert Nichols 512.463.0103
• Representative Wayne Smith 512.463.0733
• Representative (to be announced)
• Representative (to be announced)
• Representative (to be announced)
• Representative (to be announced)

House Conference Committee members will not be formally named until Monday. But that doesn't mean that Rep. Smith has got them picked and begun the process of looking at the bill language the Governor expects them to agree on.

Word has it that Senator Carona will start 'visiting with likely House conferees' this weekend.

Anything can happen in conference, but this time the sheet music has been supplied by the Lt. Governor and the Governor is calling the tune.

CorridorWatch was wrong!

Have you heard that HB1892 won't effect TTC-35? We had, and we thought that it was a load of baloney. Unfortunately, we were wrong. Now we know it and they know we know it.

There is no question that it was the clear legislative intent of HB1892 and SB792 to stop TxDOT from proceeding with any TTC facility construction during the two-year moratorium. Everyone knew that including the Governor and TxDOT and yet they let the legislature believe that these bills would do that. In fact the Governor went on record saying that he would sign the moratorium.

Amendment 13 to SB792 by Kolkhorst closes a moratorium loophole in HB1892 by including TTC-35 CDA facility agreements. The only exception would be Loop 9.

If only one amendment survives the Conference Committee it needs to be Amendment 13.

Amendment 13 is "Do or Die" for TTC-35.

It is no surprise that Kolkhorst amendment 13 is on the Governor's hit list. If we are to have an enforceable moratorium on the TTC, we must have amendment 13 remain on SB792.

Amendment 16 is just good business practice.

Rep. Kolkhorst doesn't think that the financial advisor who develops the market valuation for a project (for the toll authority or TxDOT) should also advise the company that will finance, build, develop or operated a TxDOT toll project. This is another amendment that is targeted for removal.

Other amendments also have merit, but we can't save the world, and were not too sure we can save ourselves from the Trans Texas Corridor.

Once again we ask, Will Our Senators and Representatives Continue Standing-Up For the People of Texas?

With your help we believe they can.

CorridorWatch will be watching and reporting.

David & Linda Stall, Co-founders

CorridorWatch.org

HB1892 sitting on Gov. Perry's desk

"Many House lawmakers applauded when the
bill was passed. The only dissenting vote
was cast by Rep. Mike Krusee."
– Houston Chronicle.

How sad that Krusee is my representative. I petitioned him to vote for this bill.

So here's a time line for the bill:
05/02/07 - TX, House sent the bill to Gov. Perry 139-1 (Senate 27-4)
05/12-13/07 - Gov. Perry must veto the bill or allow it to become law (sign it or not)
05/14-28/07 - Legislature can override a veto with a two-thirds vote of both chambers
05/28/07 - Session Ends

Judging by the support by both House and Senate, it appears this bill will become law even if Perry does decide to veto in protest.

My bet is he just lets it sit. A veto would make another national story of Perry vs. the State of Texas! But Ic ould be wrong. Perry has already proven he's comfortable with controversy. You know what they say... "any press is good press". Maybe this is his way of getting his name out there for a presidential run in 2012.

Regardless, HB1892 is well on it's way to slowing down the Trans-Texas Corridor.

Federal transportation chief backs Perry's toll plan

Yesterday Perry chose a visit to a Samsung semiconductor plant in suburban Austin to make his highway pitch.

Krusee is having to play defense

Nice little read........

March madness over tolls grips Legislature

Vexed by private tollway deals, affronted by TxDOT's attitudes, Legislature looks to rein in Perry's turnpike push

By Ben Wear
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, March 19, 2007

Mike Krusee looked tired.

The Republican state representative from Williamson County, interviewed at his Capitol office last week, for 10 days or so had been fighting what some people call the creeping crud, a debilitating mixture of cold, flu and allergy symptoms hitting many Central Texans this spring.

But Krusee, for much longer than 10 days, has also been fighting the creeping realization among legislators that over the past two sessions, they might have granted Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Department of Transportation too much power to create toll roads. For the first time in his three sessions as chairman of the House Transportation Committee and the leading legislative architect of toll road policy, Krusee is having to play defense.

For a number of reasons — campaign trail grumbling last year, disputes with Dallas and Houston toll road agencies, lack of deference to legislators by Texas transportation commissioners, turf battles over huge pots of money suddenly coming Texas' way — the Legislature has been gripped by a sort of March madness over tollways, particularly those that would be in private hands for a half-century.

What remains to be seen is what the madness will lead to by the end of the session May 28. As transportation chairman, Krusee can, in theory, block most legislation seeking to roll back tollway powers. And Perry could veto whatever makes it to his desk.

But more than two-thirds of the Legislature has signed on to legislation that would put a two-year moratorium on concessions, contracts with private companies to build and run toll roads. Dozens of other bills limiting tollway powers have been filed. And powerful legislators, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, are talking about using the power of the purse to curb the Transportation Department.

Perry and Krusee may have no choice but to make concessions on concessions and on other prongs of their toll road agenda.

"Watch the budget," Ogden said. "At the end of the day, TxDOT can't spend a dime without our permission. So, watch the budget."

Ogden has a unique role in the situation.

In 2003, when he was chairman of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, Ogden sponsored House Bill 3588, a humongous bill that, among other things, authorized Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor plan and allowed the state to enter into concession agreements with private companies. That bill, conceived and carried by Krusee in the House, basically made possible everything that Ogden and most of the Legislature are now stewing over.

Ogden has filed bills that would prohibit the granting of long-term road leases and require that toll roads become free roads when money borrowed by government for construction is paid off. He says tolls should be a mechanism to get a specific road built, not a profit center. Those two short and simple measures would gut the Transportation Department's toll road policy.

Ogden was asked for his take on why he and so many other lawmakers have had second thoughts about their 2003 handiwork.

"What's going on? We had an election, that's what," Ogden said. "All we're doing is reflecting what we heard on the campaign trail."

Others paint a more complicated picture. Repercussions from HB 3588 were already being felt when the Legislature met in 2005. There was grass-roots toll opposition in Austin and San Antonio and widespread unhappiness among farmers and ranchers about the corridor plan to build 4,000 miles of tollways, railroads and utility easements. But although the Legislature made some tweaks in 2005, mostly to appease the rural concerns, nothing like this session's Category 5 blowback occurred.

It's one thing to upset residents of Austin or Fayetteville and quite another to get crosswise with toll road agencies in Dallas and Houston.

The Transportation Department, in its zeal to award long-term toll road leases to private companies and thus reap multibillion-dollar upfront payments from them, has managed to alienate the North Texas Tollway Authority and the Harris County Toll Road Authority.

The local authorities want first shot at operating toll roads in their areas and feel that the state agency has shouldered them out of the way.

On Feb. 27, the Transportation Department awarded a contract for Texas 121, a road in suburban Collin County north of Dallas, to a partnership headed by Cintra, a Spanish toll road company that earlier won a bid to build 41 miles of the Texas 130 tollway southeast of Austin with Texas partner Zachry Construction. Cintra said it could give the state $2.1 billion upfront and $750 million more over 50 years for Texas 121.

The North Texas Tollway Authority declined to bid on that contract, a choice that, depending on who is telling the tale, may or may not have been made under pressure from Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson and his department.

In Houston, the Transportation Department said in April that it wanted more than $1.2 billion to sell some right of way to the Harris County authority for three more toll roads. That huge price reflected not the real estate value, but what the state could get from a private tollway operator.

Those kinds of huge upfront payments from private road operators excite Williamson and other tollanistas. But they come with a probable consequence to consumers — higher tolls — and stoke fear that the state is underselling the farm to tollway companies.

And legislators are made nervous by the Transportation Department's newfound ability to generate towering wads of cash independent of the state budget.

The Dallas and Houston episodes, along with Williamson's sometimes off-putting certitude about toll roads, have earned the Transportation Department some vigorous enemies in the statehouse, most prominently state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas. Carona, chairman of the Senate transportation committee, has used that pulpit to bash Williamson and the agency. He also has a thick packet of tollway rollback legislation pending.

Then there is freshman Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, a former transportation commissioner and Williamson ally who is unhappy about language in the pending Texas 130 contract that he says would either tie the state's hands from building free roads near Cintra's section of Texas 130 or force the state to pay Cintra-Zachry tens of millions of dollars in the future. He has filed a Senate bill, with 24 co-sponsors, for a two-year moratorium on private toll road contracts.

State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, has a House twin that has 97 co-sponsors.

Those freeze bills, and most of the other toll road bills, may never move, however. This month, Carona has met in private at least three times with Krusee, Williamson and Perry transportation aide Kris Heckmann with the intention of creating an omnibus transportation bill to include elements from the pending bills as well as policy changes sought by the Transportation Department.

"It's important that we take these ideas now and wrap them into some piece of policy that is balanced and makes the most long-term sense," Carona said. "In all fairness, the Legislature has not left the commission with many options other than the pursuit of toll roads."

Which brings up the gas tax. At 20 cents a gallon and holding since 1991, the tax is falling far short of meeting the state's need for new pavement. Carona and Krusee have separate bills to make automatic annual increases to the tax, based on different measures of inflation. Initially, Carona's bill might increase the tax 3 cents a year and raise about $300 million more a year. Krusee's bill might generate a sixth of Carona's.

Neither will come close to eliminating the need for new toll roads.

Perry spokesman Robert Black said the governor, who has steadily opposed gas taxes, "is not going to close the door" on a gas tax indexing bill. Black suggested that if lawmakers take away some powers, "they need to replace them with something. . . . If the Legislature wants to make changes, additions, amendments, that's fine. But let's make sure it pushes forward."

bwear@statesman.com; 445-3698

All 3 Texas Parties Oppose the TTC

So why are we still having this debate?

It's time for our representatives to step up and support HB2772 and SB1267.

2006 TX Republican Party Platform
Page-10. "Tran-Texas Corridor - Because there are issues of confiscation of private land, state and national sovereignty and other similar concerns, we urge the repeal of the Trans-Texas Corridor legislation,”

Page-24. "Tolls on Existing Roads - We oppose tolls charged for traversing previously toll free roadways and disallow continued tolls except for maintenance on existing toll roads already paid for."


2006 Texas Democratic Party Platform
Page 21. "We oppose the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor, a proposal that is little more than an attempt to transfer ownership of a strip down the middle of the state to a foreign corporation with close ties to the Governor, which could have a potentially devastating effect on rural areas, property owners and communities."


2006 Texas Libertarian Party Platform
"3. TOLL ROADS Libertarians oppose the Trans Texas Corridor Act, a costly boondoggle intended to benefit land developers through the abuse of eminent domain and the power of highway monopoly. Further, we support legislation that would forbid tolls on any highway right of way which was obtained with tax dollars or through the use of eminent domain or condemnation."

Corridor proposal looks like huge scandal waiting to happen

This commentary is so well written I wanted to post it here in case it got removed in the near future. Very well spoken Kent Conwell!

Corridor proposal looks like huge scandal waiting to happen
Kent Conwell

Now, I know most of us make fun of our politicians. Even politicians make fun of themselves. Henry Kissinger once made the perceptive comment that "ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad name."

Lincoln once commented, "you can't fool all of the people all of the time; you just have to fool the majority." Remember Enron, Whitewater, Watergate, and Sharpstown?

And the scandals continue. In fact, one news journal called 2006 the 'year of corruption.'We had to stomach Rep. Mark Foley and his obsession with congressional pages. Before that there was ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Louisiana Rep William Jefferson, Bob Ney, Duke Cunningham, and Texas own Tom DeLay.

I seldom make predictions because I'm usually wrong, but this time, I'm not. I predict that within five to 10 years, a scandal will rock Texas like no other. Enron and Sharpstown will be penny ante stuff compared to it.

And it will be because of our current governor, TxDot, and the Trans Texas Corridor.

Trans Texas Corridor. Have you heard of it? Not many have. And the legislature passed the bill in 2003.

The governor and TxDot have tried to keep it quiet. Almost 200 individuals have been forced to file charges to get the information that is supposed to be public.

The TTC is a proposed corridor four-football fields wide running from Laredo up I-35 and eventually all the way to Canada. It is to have six lanes for traffic, four for trucks, two for automobiles. The corridor will also carry pipelines for natural gas, oil, water, electricity, and electronic data. The land will be taken by eminent domain. And you all know what eminent domain is. It is the loophole that lets politicians steal your land legally. This greedy serpent will ultimately be 4,000 miles long, each mile using 146 acres taken by eminent domain.

How does it sound so far? What about the cost to taxpayers? The state doesn't know.The governor implores us just to trust him.We'll all benefit, just trust him.

A super-super highway speeding goods and citizens across the country. On the surface, it sounds great, the sort of initiative someone courting the vice-presidency (U.S.) would come up with. But, what are the drawbacks?

There's a couple. Minor ones the governor suggests.

First, the initial contract was signed by the Spanish firm Cintra and its partner, Zachry Construction Corporation, with TxDOT for a 316-mile section of road to be built from San Antonio to Dallas. The contract includes what is known as a nocomplete clause. That means TxDOT has agreed not to improve any roadways that run parallel to the corridor for the duration of the 50 to 75 years of the Cintra lease, unless those improvements had already been approved prior to the signing of the contract.

That means when farm to market roads fall apart, citizens' only option is the TTC and pay the toll. Texans will be forced to use the TTC and pay tolls. Crossovers are from 24 miles apart. Farmers and ranchers whose property is cut in two must travel several miles to cross over.

Oh yes, I mentioned a toll to use the road, 44+ cents for cars and $1+ for trucks per mile in addition to the cost of gasoline; and the inconvenience of 40 miles between exits; and the fact the Cintra Zachary people will control all the gas stations, eating stops and whatever all along the route.

And then there is the little matter of about 700,000 acres ripped from farmers and ranchers by eminent domain.

Folks, this scheme makes the railroad robber barons of the old west look like street corner hustlers. Over my 70 years, I've seen many obscene efforts to make the rich richer, but this is the most outrageous I have ever witnessed.

This goes through, and then it is a matter of time before it reaches us.

Kent Conwell is retired from Port-Neches Groves ISD.

Perry spokesman - real classy guy

Yesterday thousands marched at the TX Capital in Austin in protest of the TTC and tolling current Freeways. Apparently Perry's office thinks little of public opinion and makes light of the fact that people are in opposition to the current plan.

"In the '40s, some protested against the farm-to-market road system, in the '50s some protested against the interstate highway system, and today some protesters will leave the rally against the TTC using those very same roads," Perry spokesman Robert Black said. "Ain't progress great!"

FULL STORY

TTC/Toll Hearing Reports - Austin, TX

03/01/07

NEWS:

KWTX-TV (Waco/Temple/Killeen)

Senators Grill Officials About Trans-Texas Corridor Project



Land Line Magazine

Texans call for repeal of proposed toll network



KCEN-TV (Killeen)

Proposed Trans Texas Corridor draws supporters and opponents to Austin



KXAN-TV (Austin)

Residents Swarm Capitol To Halt Texas Tollway



ABC13-TV (Houston)

Senators question transportation officials over toll road project



Star-Telegram

Hundreds demand toll road project's repeal



Houston Chronicle

Senators question transportation officials over toll road project

Live Webcast of Toll/TTC Hearing tomorrow in Austin, TX

If you are unable to attend, tomorrow's hearing will be available live via the web at:
http://www.senate.state.tx.us/

Public Hearing and Rally details

TTC - The next "Lexus Lanes"

A interesting article in the Waxahachie Daily Light compares the TTC to California's over-priced "Lexus Lanes".

The State Auditor Office released a report that concludes few will use the Trans-Texas Corridor due to high pricing. This and other studies say that by 2030, only about 24% of the traffic would be diverted from I-35 to the TTC on the congested areas between Dallas and San Antonio.

Corridor Watch spokesman David Stall is concerned about the TTC-35 projected tolls - and the impact on how that expense would affect people’s decisions to use the roadway.

“They’re going to make the tolls as much as people are willing to pay,” Stall said of any private entity that would take on any of the TransTexas Corridor’s planned 4,000 miles of toll roads.

“That’s exactly the opposite with what we have now (with state-run toll roads) that keep the toll as low as necessary,” he said, noting state-run toll roads’ motive is to keep traffic moving - not to make a profit.

“Private operators can raise the tolls as high as the market will bear,” Stall said, noting privately-run toll roads are familiar to people in California, where high tolls have led to the toll roads being nicknamed “Lexus lanes.”

Toll foes show up in force at hearing

2/7/07 - San Antonio, TX

Toll critics weren't allowed to set up a table to greet crowds coming into a public hearing Tuesday for a proposed U.S. 281 tollway, but once inside they made their point.

When Joe Krier, president of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, got up to explain how tolls could fund twice as many miles of express lanes in half the time, letting motorists pay if they want to avoid worsening traffic congestion, boos laced the applause that followed.

When toll critic Terri Hall, leader of the San Antonio Toll Party, addressed the hearing to say that gas tax money can pay for what's needed on U.S. 281 and warned how foreign companies would suck million of dollars in profits from motorists, many in the crowd stood to cheer.

And there were a lot of people to make noise.

The Texas Department of Transportation, which held the hearing in the main ballroom of the Alzafar Shrine Temple to get input on its draft environmental assessment for the project, counted 652 people, far more than in attendance at most other local public hearings.

Almost one in 10 who showed signed up to speak.

More at MySanAntonio.com

All 3 Texas Parties Oppose Trans-Texas Corridor!!

So why are we still having this debate?

2006 TX Republican Party Platform
Page-10. "Tran-Texas Corridor - Because there are issues of confiscation of private land, state and national sovereignty and other similar concerns, we urge the repeal of the Trans-Texas Corridor legislation,”

Page-24. "Tolls on Existing Roads - We oppose tolls charged for traversing previously toll free roadways and disallow continued tolls except for maintenance on existing toll roads already paid for."


2006 Texas Democratic Party Platform
Page 21. "We oppose the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor, a proposal that is little more than an attempt to transfer ownership of a strip down the middle of the state to a foreign corporation with close ties to the Governor, which could have a potentially devastating effect on rural areas, property owners and communities."


2006 Texas Libertarian Party Platform
"3. TOLL ROADS Libertarians oppose the Trans Texas Corridor Act, a costly boondoggle intended to benefit land developers through the abuse of eminent domain and the power of highway monopoly. Further, we support legislation that would forbid tolls on any highway right of way which was obtained with tax dollars or through the use of eminent domain or condemnation."

Bills filed to stop TTC and conversion of existing roads to Tolls

San Antonio-area lawmaker State Rep. David Leibowitz has filed the following bills.

Links to the Bills on State website.
HB719 (1/23/07) and HB857 (1/25/07)

80R3227 JTS-D

By: Leibowitz H.B. No. 719

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the operation of a state highway or segment of a state highway as a toll project.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 228.201, Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 228.201. LIMITATION ON TOLL PROJECT [FACILITY] DESIGNATION. The [(a) Except as provided by Section 228.2015, the] department may not operate a [nontolled] state highway or a segment of a [nontolled] state highway as a toll project, and may not transfer a highway or segment to another entity for operation as a toll project, unless:

(1) [the commission by order designated the highway or segment as a toll project before the contract to construct the highway or segment was awarded;

[(2)] the highway or segment was open to traffic as a turnpike project on or before September 1, 2005;

(2) [(3)] the project was designated as a toll project when the project was initially described in a plan or program for roads released or disclosed to the public by:

(A) [of] a metropolitan planning organization, if the proposed toll project is located in the territory of a metropolitan planning organization; or

(B) the department, if the proposed toll project is not located in the territory of a metropolitan planning organization [on or before September 1, 2005;

[(4) the highway or segment is reconstructed so that the number of nontolled lanes on the highway or segment is greater than or equal to the number in existence before the reconstruction;

[(5) a facility is constructed adjacent to the highway or segment so that the number of nontolled lanes on the converted highway or segment and the adjacent facility together is greater than or equal to the number in existence on the converted highway or segment before the conversion;

[(6) subject to Subsection (b), the highway or segment was open to traffic as a high-occupancy vehicle lane on May 1, 2005]; or

(3) [(7)] the commission converts the highway or segment to a toll project [facility] by:

(A) making the determination required by Section 228.202;

(B) conducting the hearing required by Section 228.203; and

(C) obtaining county and voter approval as required by Sections 228.207 and 228.208.

[(b) The department may operate or transfer a high-occupancy vehicle lane under Subsection (a)(6) as a tolled lane only if the department or other entity operating the lane allows vehicles occupied by a specified number of passengers to use the lane without paying a toll.]

SECTION 2. 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 September 1, 2007.

80R3969 DWS-D

By: Leibowitz H.B. No. 857

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to repeal of authority for the establishment and operation of the Trans-Texas Corridor.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 11.11(j), Tax Code, is amended to read as follows:

(j) For purposes of this section, any portion of a facility owned by the Texas Department of Transportation that is [part of the Trans-Texas Corridor, is] a rail facility or system[,] or is a highway in the state highway system, and that is licensed or leased to a private entity by that department under Chapter 91 or[,] 223, [or 227,] Transportation Code, is public property used for a public purpose if the rail facility or system, highway, or facility is operated by the private entity to provide transportation or utility services. Any part of a facility, rail facility or system, or state highway that is licensed or leased to a private entity for a commercial purpose is not exempt from taxation.

SECTION 2. Section 25.06(c), Tax Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) This section does not apply to:

(1) any portion of a facility owned by the Texas Department of Transportation that is [part of the Trans-Texas Corridor, is] a rail facility or system[,] or is a highway in the state highway system and that is licensed or leased to a private entity by that department under Chapter 91[, 227,] or 361, Transportation Code; or

(2) a leasehold or other possessory interest granted by the Texas Department of Transportation in a facility owned by that department that is [part of the Trans-Texas Corridor, is] a rail facility or system[,] or is a highway in the state highway system.

SECTION 3. Section 25.07(c), Tax Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to:

(1) any portion of a facility owned by the Texas Department of Transportation that is [part of the Trans-Texas Corridor, is] a rail facility or system[,] or is a highway in the state highway system and that is licensed or leased to a private entity by that department under Chapter 91[, 227,] or 361, Transportation Code; or

(2) a leasehold or other possessory interest granted by the Texas Department of Transportation in a facility owned by that department that is [part of the Trans-Texas Corridor, is] a rail facility or system[,] or is a highway in the state highway system.

SECTION 4. Sections 201.616(a) and (b), Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) Not later than December 1 of each year, the department shall submit a report to the legislature that details:

(1) the expenditures made by the department in the preceding state fiscal year in connection with:

(A) the unified transportation program of the department;

(B) turnpike projects and toll roads of the department; and

(C) [the Trans-Texas Corridor;

[(D)] rail facilities described in Chapter 91; [and

[(E) non-highway facilities on the Trans-Texas Corridor if those expenditures are subject to Section 227.062(c);]

(2) the amount of bonds or other public securities issued for transportation projects; and

(3) the direction of money by the department to a regional mobility authority in this state.

(b) The report must break down information under Subsection (a)(1)(A) by program category and department district. The report must break down information under Subsections (a)(1)(B) and[,] (C)[, (D), and (E)] and Subsection (a)(3) by department district. The report must break down information under Subsection (a)(2) by department district and type of project.

SECTION 5. Section 202.112(a), Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The commission may purchase an option to acquire property for possible use in or in connection with a transportation facility[, including a facility as defined by Section 227.001,] before a final decision has been made as to whether the transportation facility will be located on that property.

SECTION 6. Section 222.003(e), Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

(e) The proceeds of bonds and other public securities issued under this section may not be used for any purpose other than any costs related to the bonds and other public securities and the purposes for which revenues are dedicated under Section 7-a, Article VIII, Texas Constitution. [The proceeds of bonds and other public securities issued under this section may not be used for the construction of a state highway or other facility on the Trans-Texas Corridor. For purposes of this section, the "Trans-Texas Corridor" means the statewide system of multimodal facilities under the jurisdiction of the department that is designated by the commission, notwithstanding the name given to that corridor.]

SECTION 7. Section 223.201(a), Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Subject to Section 223.202, the department may enter into a comprehensive development agreement with a private entity to design, develop, finance, construct, maintain, repair, operate, extend, or expand a:

(1) toll project;

(2) [facility or a combination of facilities on the Trans-Texas Corridor;

[(3)] state highway improvement project that includes both tolled and nontolled lanes and may include nontolled appurtenant facilities;

(3) [(4)] state highway improvement project in which the private entity has an interest in the project; or

(4) [(5)] state highway improvement project financed wholly or partly with the proceeds of private activity bonds, as defined by Section 141(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

SECTION 8. The following provisions of the Transportation Code are repealed:

(1) Section 201.618(e);

(2) Chapter 227;

(3) Section 370.316; and

(4) Section 545.3531.

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 September 1, 2007.

Austin, TX - Capitol Rally - Don’t Tag Texas

What: Don’t Tag Texas Rally

Who/Why: Several organizations led by Hank Gilbert, Farm & Ranch Freedom, and others are sponsoring a rally to protest the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) and the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

When: Friday, March 2, 2007 - Texas Independence Day

Time: The March will begin at 2:00 pm. The rally on the steps of the Capitol will be from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

More info at www.dont-tagtexas.com

Pentagon records - connecting of US, MEX, CAN

01/30/07
- Pentagon Records - US officials meet with Mexico and Canada in talks of joining North America "structurally and economically".

WASHINGTON – Participants in a high-level, closed door, three-day conference on the integration of the three North American nations debated whether openness about goals was preferred to a stealthy policy of building infrastructure before a vision of the end result was even laid out to the people of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, according to notes obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Official notes taken on a session on "Border Infrastructure and Continental Prosperity" at the North American Forum in Banff, Canada, last September, reveal the internal debate over continued secrecy.

"While a vision is appealing, working on the infrastructure might yield more benefit and bring more people on board ('evolution by stealth')," record the notes discovered amid documents obtained by Judicial Watch.

Judicial Watch released yesterday the documents it received in a FOIA request from the U.S. Northern Command, whose commander, Admiral Timothy Keating, participated in the conference along with Northcom political adviser Deborah Bolton and Plans, Policy and Strategy Director Maj. General Mark Volcheff. A similar request concerning participation in the North American Forum meeting by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is still pending.

At least one attendee of the conference said the meeting was intended to subvert the democratic process. Mel Hurtig, a Canadian author and publisher elected as the leader of the National Party of Canada, told WND last fall the idea of the North American Forum is to move the countries toward integration without public consent or even knowledge.

"What is sinister about this meeting is that it involved high level government officials and some of the top and most powerful business leaders of the three countries and the North American Forum in organizing the meeting intentionally did not inform the press in any of the three countries," he said. "It was clear that the intention was to keep this important meeting about integrating the three countries out of the public eye."

The conference raised more suspicions about plans for the future merger of the U.S., Canada and Mexico – with topics ranging from "A Vision for North America," "Opportunities for Security Cooperation" and "Demographic and Social Dimensions of North American Integration."

Confirmed participants included Rumsfeld, former Secretary of State George Shultz, who serves as co-chairman of the North American Forum, former Central Intelligence Agency Director R. James Woolsey, former Immigration and Naturalization Services Director Doris Meissner, North American Union guru Robert Pastor, former Defense Secretary William Perry, former Energy Secretary and Defense Secretary James Schlesinger and top officials of both Mexico and Canada. But the only media member scheduled to appear at the event, according to documents obtained by WND, was the Wall Street Journal's Mary Anastasia O'Grady.

The event was organized by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Canada West Foundation, an Alberta think-tank that promotes closer economic integration with the United States.

The next meeting of the North American Forum is set for Oct. 12-14 in Puerto Vallarta.

Full article from WorldNetDaily.com

Supporting Documents from JudicialWatch.org (not found in article link)

A similar request for records concerning forum participation by then-Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and his entourage is still pending with the Pentagon.

The records include: 1) Proposed comments for Admiral Keating’s speech to the North American Forum; 2) Presentation outlines with handwritten marginal notes and comments from Ms. Bolton; 3) Policy papers; 4) Biographic sketches of participants; and, 5) Notes from Major General Volcheff.

Lawmaker Files Bill To Kill Trans-Texas Corridor Project

A legislator from San Antonio has filed a bill to kill GOP Gov. Rick Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor toll road proposal.

Democratic Representative David Liebowitz says his measure would take away the Texas Department of Transportation's authority to buy land and do contracts for the project (Bill: HB 857 ).

Full article at www.kwtx.com

Leibowitz bill would KILL the Trans Texas Corridor

Link to WOAI story here.

Joe Krier here claims that there was controversy like this surrounding the construction of the interstate highway system by Eisenhower. HARDLY! The interstate system didn’t take swaths of private land the width of 4 footballs fields and effectively cut off normal wildlife migration patterns with 1,200 foot slabs of concrete without exits or overpasses. Just the first 4 corridors of the Trans Texas Corridor (if built out as proposed), would take 3 times the land of all the existing interstates in Texas today. Also, Eisenhower wanted to build the interstates for national security, not to turn over massive amounts of Texas infrastructure to foreign control! The pro-tollers are out of touch and don’t have their facts straight.

Truth is, there’s nothing even remotely like the TTC anywhere in the world. It’s not only the biggest eminent domain project in U.S. history, it’s horrible public policy, and the decisions of whether to build it or not is being cut off from the taxpaying public and being forcibly foisted upon Texans against their will.

Read more here from San Antonio Toll Party.