The day after lawmakers ended their legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott touted a successful session for transportation funding and issues, as he signed three bills on a heliport in Dallas.
Transportation
Reporting on roads, transit, infrastructure, and policy shaping travel and mobility across the state, from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Transportation
Texans to Vote on Plan to Boost Road Funding
The Texas Legislature voted Saturday to ask the state’s voters in November to approve a plan to boost annual transportation funding by billions of dollars.
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Economy
House, Senate Leaders Confirm Transportation Funding Deal
House and Senate leaders have come to an agreement on a deal to significantly boost the Texas Department of Transportation’s funding.
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Transportation
Contracting Experiment Drawing Mixed Reviews
After four years of trying out a new way of awarding state contracts known as design-build, lawmakers aren’t sure taxpayers get a better deal, and Texas businesses say they’re being muscled out of jobs by larger, out-of-state companies.
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Criminal Justice
Senate Moves to Reform Driver Responsibility Program
The Texas Senate voted Thursday to weaken the state’s Driver Responsibility Program, which critics say unfairly penalizes poor Texans.
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Transportation
House, Senate at Odds Over Provision That Would Block Bullet Train
House and Senate leaders are in the midst of intense negotiations over a budget rider that could kill a proposed $12 billion bullet train project connecting Dallas and Houston.
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Economy
End of the Road for Tesla, Ride-for-Hire Bills
With the clock winding down on the legislative session, Tesla Motors, Uber and Lyft have little to show for the money they spent on high-profile lobbying. As deadlines loom, the bills they were steering appear to have run out of gas.
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Criminal Justice
A Smorgasbord of Disclosure, Online for the First Time
A state lawmaker is pushing to make all financial disclosure statements filed with the Texas Ethics Commission available online so the public can easily find them. In that spirit, the Tribune presents the disclosures filed by scores of state agency heads, regents and others that you can’t get online now.
Posted in
State Government
Rural Critics Organize to Stop Private Bullet Train
Dallas and Houston leaders may want a super-fast train connecting their cities, but folks in between aren’t as sold on the idea. Some have formed Texans Against High-Speed Rail, and they’re hiring lobbyists and courting allies in a bid to kill the plan.
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Criminal Justice
The Complicated Politics of Red Light Cameras
State Rep. Jonathan Stickland’s ejection from a House Transportation Committee hearing aside, activists devoted to purging Texas of red light cameras say they aren’t thrilled with the bills under consideration this session.
