Our recommendations also call for the creation of two high-level policy advisory positions, mandated in statute, to advise the TxDOT commissioner or commissioners regarding environmental policies and public transportation policies.
“Ideally these would be professionals without a vested interest in the traditional road-oriented approaches taken by the agency and with extensive experience and/or knowledge in their respective fields. The state needs a fresh outlook on both the environmental aspects of transportation policy (including the potential impacts of climate change on transportation decisions), and the public transit opportunities that are being missed,” the Sierra recommendation says.
The Sierra Club also supports recommendations by the Sunset Advisory Commission for new opportunities for public involvement in transportation planning and establishment of a Rail Transportation Division within TxDOT to begin putting rail transit on a more equal footing with traditional road projects.
Thursday, April
23, 2009 Following is a report from Jim Davis, a member of the Transportation Committee of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club:
Sunset Review of TxDOT Headed for Critical Decision Points
The two-year “sunset review” examination
of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)
is nearing critical decision points at the
State Capitol with key legislators expressing
determination to make the agency more efficient
and receptive to the public.
Members of the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter’s
Transportation Committee have been active in
the process, presenting recommendations earlier
to the Sunset Advisory Commission and recently
to House and Senate committees reviewing the
bills that would continue TxDOT as an agency
but with certain reforms.
Under the sunset review process adopted in 1977, the Legislature periodically examines state agencies and must adopt renewal legislation or let them die. In effect, the process has eliminated only a few small agencies but has helped reform even the largest ones.
Sierra Club Perspective on TxDOT
The Sierra Club efforts have focused on what we see
as the (TxDOT’s) failure to:
develop a comprehensive approach to addressing the state’s
myriad transportation needs (both urban and rural) that goes
beyond the archaic dependence on roads as our main transportation
arteries, with more attention to mass transit;
take into consideration and address the full environmental
and other social impacts of its road projects; and
provide for meaningful and effective public involvement
in shaping the decisions of the agency.
Our presentations to the House Transportation Committee on March 31 and to the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee on April 22 stated that the proposed TxDOT continuation legislation (HB 300 and SB 1019) as filed will not cure all the ills with TxDOT but is an important start.
Concerns of State Senators
During the committees’ hearings, several legislators
expressed frustrations with the current functioning
of TxDOT, everything from a major bookkeeping error
to lack of responsiveness to legislators and the public.
Because of these concerns, the Legislature is expected
to mandate another sunset review of TxDOT in only
four years.
Several Senate committee members also expressed concern
about TXDOT's ability to finance new transportation
projects. Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, said he feared
financial problems would keep TXDOT for handling 21st
Century transportation problems and would make it “a
20th Century maintenance department and, it seems
to me, a second-class one at that.”
Senate Transportation Committee Chairman John Carona,
R-Dallas, said he plans to ask for a meeting with
the governor, key legislators and TXDOT commissioners
to discuss this potential crisis, which would be handled
outside the sunset process. “We still have time to act,” he
said.
Upcoming Senate Action
Senator Carona told the Senate committee that he plans
to bring up the Senate version of the TxDOT continuation
bill for discussion and for votes in the Committee
at 8 a.m. Monday, April 27, and “have a bill” by Wednesday,
April 29. House consideration is proceeding separately,
but the House bill has been pending in the House committee
since March 31.
A key decision is whether to maintain the current
five-member commission that supervises TxDOT. The
Sierra Club supports a proposal for one Transportation
Commissioner, either elected statewide or appointed
by the governor but says this is not a “live or die” issue
for us. Several key legislators, including Sen. Carona,
have voiced opposition to the one-commissioner proposal.
Sierra Club opposes any proposal to increase the number
of commissioners.
Our recommendations also call for the creation of two high-level policy advisory positions, mandated in statute, to advise the TxDOT commissioner or commissioners regarding environmental policies and public transportation policies.
“Ideally these would be professionals without a vested interest in the traditional road-oriented approaches taken by the agency and with extensive experience and/or knowledge in their respective fields. The state needs a fresh outlook on both the environmental aspects of transportation policy (including the potential impacts of climate change on transportation decisions), and the public transit opportunities that are being missed,” the
Sierra recommendation says.
The Sierra Club also supports recommendations by the Sunset Advisory Commission for new opportunities for public involvement in transportation planning and establishment of a Rail Transportation Division within TxDOT to begin putting rail transit on a more equal footing with traditional road projects.
Looking Ahead
There are likely to be a number of amendments proposed to the TxDOT continuation bill both in committee and on the Senate and House floors, reflecting a number of pieces of transportation legislation that have been introduced this session but thus far are not moving through the process. The Sierra Club will be monitoring this process to try to provide our views on any proposed amendments.
[The Lone Star Chapter’s Transportation Committee currently includes Dick Kallerman, Chapter Transportation Coordinator, Brandt Mannchen, and Jim Davis and is assisted by Chapter Director Ken Kramer and Chapter intern Jake Gulledge from St. Edward’s
University.]
