News Room

Bring back Lege for TxDOT issues
June 8, 2009

One of the many procedural fatalities of the final days of the 81st Legislature was a transportation measure that would have given voters the option to fund road construction and other mobility improvements with local taxes.

Written by Editorial, The San Antonio Express-News

Localoptio

TOM REEL/treel@express-news.net Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (center) was no friend of the local option.

One of the many procedural fatalities of the final days of the 81st Legislature was a transportation measure that would have given voters the option to fund road construction and other mobility improvements with local taxes.

For the San Antonio area, local option legislation championed by Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, was essential. While the entire state is far behind schedule in infrastructure improvements and expansion, the problem is most acute in fast-growing metropolitan areas. The San Antonio region faces a projected transportation shortfall of $19 billion over the next two decades.

If the state can't or won't fund construction of the roads needed in Bexar County, voters deserve the option of approving local funding mechanisms that will. No one wants to pay more taxes or fees. But residents are entitled to determine whether those are any less preferable than the gridlock that is the result of insufficient roadway construction.

Early disagreements among the Bexar County delegation — especially the opposition of Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio — didn't help the fate of the local option. Lawmakers who owe their offices to voters ought to trust them to be able to make an informed decision about whether they want to pay for more transportation infrastructure.

While opponents successfully snuffed out a local option measure, they also failed to come up with any meaningful alternative to address the transportation funding shortfall. That fact, along with the inability of lawmakers to pass a bill to reform the Texas Department of Transportation, is more than sufficient cause for Gov. Rick Perry to call a special session.

Transportation issues have been a high priority for Perry. For the good of Texas, he should call the Legislature back to address the state's inadequate transportation funding and TxDOT reform.

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