Federal Highway Administration backs off thanks to Hutchison
TURF shows Hutchison illegal lobbying by TxDOT against HB 1892
Thursday, May 10, 2007 - Yesterday, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters sent a letter replying to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's letter warning the Federal Highway Administration NOT to insert itself in STATE legislation, particularly in regards to the private toll moratorium, HB 1892. In the ongoing battle over HB 1892, repeated attempts have been made by House Transportation Committee Chairman Mike Krusee and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to call in the feds to make threats that passing HB 1892 would jeopardize Texas' federal highway funds.
"We applaud Senator Hutchison. She heard the cry of the people, saw the abuses taking place, and moved swiftly to rectify it. Thanks to the Senator's work on this, the dark cloud the Governor and his highway department have tried to cast over the people's bill has been lifted," says a relieved Terri Hall, Founder/Director of TURF.
In correspondence with the Senator's office, TURF pointed out the illegal lobbying activity by both the Federal Highway Administration and the Texas Department of the Transportation.
"We simply sent Senator Hutchison the LAW, and that sure helped provide some convincing moral clarity to help Ms. Peters see the light…TxDOT, the Governor, and the Federal Highway Administration have been illegally lobbying against state legislation," notes Hall.
Statutes on this post: http://texasturf.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=88&Itemid=1.