Rep.Larry Phillips' public private partnership toll road bill (called Comprehensive Development Agreement or CDA in Texas), HB 2861, will be up for a vote on the House floor THURSDAY. These private entities are piecing together a network of privately controlled toll lanes across our cities. Texans will be paying a PREMIUM to private, mostly foreign, corporations just to get to work (for our lifetimes) if we don't stop this NOW!
URGENT ACTION ITEM!
We need as many calls as possible going in to your House members!
Call your House member and ask them to vote 'No!' on HB 2861.
Capitol switchboard is (512) 463-4630 (open 8 AM - 5 PM). You can also call your State Representative's office, directly, outside the hours of 8 AM - 5 PM. Find out who your State Representative is here.
Roads impacted:
(Note the volume near the border. Cintra wants to control all trade through Texas, increasing the cost of everything you buy.)- I-35 in Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio
- I-45 in Houston
- Hwy 290 (Hempstead Tollway) Houston
- I-30 in Ft. Worth
- I-635 E in Dallas
- Loop 1604 in San Antonio
- 290 W in Austin (from MoPac to Oak Hill)
- South MoPac in Austin
- South Padre Island Second Access Causeway
- International Bridge Corridor Project
- Hidalgo County Loop project
- FM 1925 in Cameron & Hidalgo Counties
- Hwy 83 Hidalgo County
- Hwy 68 in Hidalgo County
- Outer Pkwy in Cameron County
- Loop 49 in Tyler (two projects)
Background:
Toll rates for such deals exceed 75 cents per mile and can cost commuters $40/day during peak hours like is occurring in the Metroplex. These contracts are 52-year crony sweetheart deals that socialize the losses and privatize the profits - leaving taxpayers holding the bag when they go bankrupt.
They also represent eminent domain for private gain. P3s/CDAs are the MOSTexpensive way to fund roads and result in the greatest loss of liberty because it gives private corporations the power to tax without accountability to the taxpayers. SH 130 is the first such deal in Texas and it went bankrupt in less than 3 years. Now the taxpayers are on the hook for the $430 million federal loan that went into the deal!
See related article: HB 2861 - Coalition Opposed to CDAs, P3s & More Toll Roads