Grassroots fed-up, push to override veto of HB 1892!
Citizens outraged at Governor, Legislature caving to Mr. 39%
Thursday, May 24, 2007 – Fed-up is putting it mildly, the people of Texas are looking for a place to direct their rage and it's going to rest squarely on this Legislature in the final 4 days of the session. The grassroots WILL NOT leave empty-handed.
"SB 792 needs to die. We will not accept market-based highways and TxDOT demanding concession fees just like Cintra. The PEOPLE'S BILL (HB 1892) got vetoed, and it's high time we override it to make it law," steams home school mom turned grassroots activist and TURF Founder, Terri Hall. "The grassroots are FED-UP; they're ready to get out their pitchforks! We expect the PEOPLE'S BILL to become law."
"You're going to hear HB 1892 is a non-starter, it's flawed, it's dead. Have they all whimped out? If these guys turn around and vote NOT to override a bill they sent to the Governor in a combined 169-5 vote, then they all deserve to be thrown out of office along with Perry. If the Legislature refuses to address HB 1892 because they don't want to give up their summer vacation, there will be TOTAL voter revolt! We've come to believe all the claims that HB 1892 is flawed are empty and false arguments to try and distract the GRASSROOTS from achieving a historic moment in political history....overriding a Governor's veto for the first time since 1979 due to Perry's failed, detested transportation policies!" states Hall. "Our drumbeat will not and cannot be squelched."
William Lutz of the Lone Star Report in an article on the ramifications of SB 792 notes:
"A further flaw is it allows continuation of current policy, whereby the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) may require up-front 'concession fees' in exchange for building some new toll projects. The tolls that pay these concession fees are taxes, not user fees, because concession fees result in tolls over and above the amount required to build and maintain the road. Since the fees are paid back over time from toll revenue, it increases the burden of debt on our children and grandchildren.
In short, concession fees, which are continued by the 'market valuation' language in SB 792, allow the government to raise taxes and do off-budget spending in a manner concealed to the public and without proper legislative oversight and authorization."
"The grassroots will not stand idly by and allow Rick Perry and Ric Williamson's market-based incarnation of extorting money from the traveling public to drive on highways we've already built and paid for. We will not let this Governor unleash a whole new policy initiative hatched in some back room deal with legislators who lack spines. Market value means highest possible tolls. It doesn't really matter if it's the public or private sector doing it, concession fees fleece the taxpayer. At a time when gas prices are at or over $3.00 a gallon, this policy is as foolish as it is sinister. It will bankrupt motorists and, in turn, the State," Hall concludes.
Market valuation dollars WILL STILL ALLOW TXDOT TO BUILD THE TRANS TEXAS CORRIDOR!
Trans Texas Corridor alignment I-69 is already exempted in this bill. These politicians may think they will go home and say they got a moratorium under SB 792, and then TTC-69 hearings will start and the fury will begin. The way the market valuation section reads, it says the money will be used in the region, in counties contiguous to the tolling entity's boundaries. Let it be put on the record that this means they can use market valuation money to build TTC 35 segments in Guadalupe & Wilson Counties (Seguin, Floresville, St. Hegwig) and the areas touching Houston and Dallas for either TTC 69 or TTC 35. Concession fees will also free up gas tax money that can then be applied to TTC segments that are not toll viable.
"HB 1892 is good public policy, it's the people's bill, it slows down this toll train, and allows us to truly study the ramifications of transportation policy before making it law," states Hall.
The best independent analysis of the consequences of SB 792 here: http://www.easttexasreview.com/story.htm?StoryID=4494