Texas Legislature works fast, does little
July 7, 2009
When Texas legislators gather in Austin, no matter how much or how little they accomplish, they always pat themselves on the back afterward.
Written by Editorial, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
When Texas legislators gather in Austin, no matter how much or how little they accomplish, they always pat themselves on the back afterward.
"I’m proud of how quickly and efficiently the Texas Senate came together during this brief special session to pass legislation, ensuring the state can issue $2 billion in voter-approved bonds to build roads and to keep some of our most critical agencies, including the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Department of Insurance, open," Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said of the two-day meeting last week.
As if approving voter-sanctioned bonds and allowing some big agencies to keep their doors open were tough work or ending this session quickly were something to be proud of.
In fact, lawmakers simply backed away from any heavy lifting. They shuffled paper, pushed their voting buttons and left.
They had a chance to significantly expand highway construction, but Dewhurst, Gov. Rick Perry and House Speaker Joe Straus said this session should be short. Doing real work would have required deep thought and bold action, and our legislators offered neither.
House members couldn’t get their heads around a proposal to create a $1 billion revolving fund to help build highways. Members of the Appropriations Committee wanted more safeguards, but for some reason they were not willing to put those safeguards in the proposed law. Instead, they sent the money to the Texas Infrastructure Bank to be used for highways.
The difference is that $1 billion in the Infrastructure Bank will aid about $3 billion worth of construction. In the revolving fund, it would have financed about $7 billion in new highways. This legislation needed thoughtful change, not summary rejection.
Another bill would have allowed the Department of Transportation to work with private entities to build or continue building certain toll projects. Lawmakers decided quickly not to dirty their hands with that one.
That was it. Get in and get gone. Nothing worth celebrating.
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