Thanks for the vote of confidence. But your retort guarantees that one of us doesn't get it, and sorry, I don't think that's me.
The authority to convert existing roads into toll roads lies with the regional authority(RMA), not the state or Perry. The legislature gave this authority to the RMAs.
Never heard of an RMA -- that your way of saying you're plugged into the issue and I'm not, so obviously you get it all and anybody who doesn't know what an RMA is, can't?
Creating extra layers of government is an old exercise in the sheep-shearing Northeast. New York City has so many "government" bodies, most people can't name them all. I don't care who you say the Lege gave authority to -- the responsibility is still theirs, and they had better not have given away the people's property to private interests for tolling. And they had better think twice before they allow anyone -- TexDoT, I don't care who -- to start putting toll booths on paid-for highways.
Also, this issue of converting existing roads is exaggerated by those that try to imply that a thoroughly modern road with adequate capacity is being converted.
Okay, then unexaggerate it -- show us that the commuter routes mapped by Rick Perry's DoT are all falling apart and due for rebuilds. Something tells me you can't shoulder that load, and that you're casting aspersions {that "exaggerated" crack) that you can't make stick.
Go on, show us all those four-lane roads are disintegrating. But careful, now, I've been driving over there now and then, and I might be familiar with one you say is toast; and in any case there are plenty of Austinites around who can set the record straight.
Of course, it is not just the poorly informed who post bad information. Some know the facts and post mis-info to promote their agenda.
Your phrase, "extra layers of government", indicates that you also don't know much about the Texas Constitution and Home Rule. In Texas, power is decentralized to the extent that sometimes the local govt has equal or more authority than the state. Creating Regional Mobility Authorities gives locals more power. Also look at how water authority is de-centralized to the 19 regional water authorities and local water districts.
This prevents the cities from ganging up on the rural areas.
In fact, if we look at the only gas tax increase that has been proposed, we see how it benefits only the 8 largest cities. It contained no revenue for the TTC or the rest of the state. This tax increase was floated by Michael Stevens, the head of the Governor's Business Council and a property developer in Houston.
It is undeniable. The Texas population growth is inevitable. Texas will have to build, maintain, and improve roads and other infrastructure. The only issue is who will pay for the roads. Obviously, there is going to be mix of toll roads and free roads. Texans will have to pay higher fuel taxes and tolls. The only question is whether the mix will be higher tax increases-fewer tolls or lower tax increases-more tolls.
It is interesting to note that many in the legislature are calling for a 2 year moratorium on toll roads. That is because in two years there will be a power shift in Austin.
Today, you have Perry and Craddick protecting West Texas/rural Texas.
In two years, Hutchinson will be governor. She is from Dallas and the wife of Ray Hutchinson, the developers' bondsman of choice.
Craddick barely held on to his speakership in this session. His two challengers were from Houston and Waxahatchie(DFW). He will be replaced by one of them in 2 years.
I don't mean to imply that this issue of East Texas vs West Texas or urban vs rural is the only game in play, only that it should be considered in how things play out.
More important is the inevitable gas tax increase. There has not been anything proposed by an elected official, only by those well connected. There has also been some editorializing in the media. Based on this, we can accurately speculate on the what might eventually be proposed in the legislature.
What we see is an 8-12 cent increase and indexing to constuction material cost inflation. Although we can't say with certainty what it will be, for discussion purposes only, I will use the 12 cent increase and the one cent per year indexed increase.
Keep in mind, although we are talking about a gas tax to benefit the roads, 25% of the gas tax goes to schools. The legislature has been agonizing with this nagging school funding problem for years. You can see that 3 cents of a 12 cent gas tax increase going to schools would solve a lot of the problem, make their job easier. So they are not thinking just about roads.
Now, let's look at the indexed gas tax increase. We can use the one cent per year estimate but we don't know what it actually will be. Given the worldwide demand for oil and the cement shortages, I suspect that it will average out to be more than one cent per year. Whatever the amount, it is automatic.
Once the legislature puts that in place, they never have to raise the tax again, it is a automatic, built-in gas tax increase. That ia a legislator's dream. Also, keep in mind, 25% of it goes to schools. Now, we have automatic, built-in tax increases for roads and schools. That is a legislator's wet dream.
But if you want to gripe about Perry while the legilature bends you over, go ahead.