At last Friday’s quarterly meeting of the Texas Lyceum, I interviewed Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins about transportation policy and funding at the state and local level.
Transportation
Reporting on roads, transit, infrastructure, and policy shaping travel and mobility across the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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State Government
Perry Backs Dedicated Car Sales Taxes for Highway Fund
Gov. Rick Perry on Friday said he likes the idea of dedicating a portion of future car sales taxes to road projects and also said he’s open to spending up to $6 billion of the Rainy Day Fund on infrastructure projects.
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State Government
Video: Perry’s Keynote Address on Transportation
Here’s the full video of Gov. Rick Perry’s keynote address on transportation at The Texas Lyceum’s public conference.
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Energy
Senate Sets Up Debate on Rainy Day Fund Spending
The full Texas Senate will consider a plan to spend about half of the projected $11.8 billion balance in the state’s Rainy Day Fund for transportation and water projects, though Democrats plan to push for money for schools as well.
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State Government
Elon Musk: The TT Interview
The CEO of Tesla Motors on his efforts to sell cars directly to Texans, the state’s business-friendly reputation and SpaceX’s plans to build an orbital launch facility near Brownsville.
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Criminal Justice
House Panel Considers Simpson’s TSA “Anti-Groping” Bill
Despite previous threats from the federal government to shut down Texas airports if state lawmakers limit the TSA’s ability to conduct security screenings, Rep. David Simpson is pushing lawmakers to approve a so-called anti-groping bill.
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Economy
Roadblocks Emerge for Transportation Funding
With less than two months left in the legislative session, some lawmakers are lowering expectations on what can get done related to funding for roads.
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State Government
Texas Roads Paved With Taxes, Tolls and Debt
Voters want better roads. Lawmakers want happy voters. Roads require taxes, tolls, debt or some combination of the three, which is why conservative officeholders are using those three dirty words.
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Transportation
TribLive: A Conversation About Transportation
Full video of Aman Batheja’s 4/4 TribLive conversation with state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and state Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman.
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Transportation
TribLive: Nichols and Phillips on the Vehicle Sales Tax
At Thursday’s TribLive conversation, state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and state Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, talked about a proposal to use vehicle sales tax revenue to meet our transportation funding needs.