Free Republic

Governor Perry and other state leaders have agreed to bring a halt to the practice which some say has led to toll roads...the diversion of money from the state's highway fund to other projects, 1200 WOAI news reports. "Implement a plan that sets a definitive course to end the practice of funding the Department of Public Safety with gas taxes that are needed for road construction, and return to funding the DPS with general revenue," is the first goal in a long term transportation funding plan released by Perry, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, and House Speaker Tom Craddick. 1200 WOAI...

From the Texas Contractor Austin Bureau January 7, 2008 Texas Contractor Interview with Amadeo Saenz on TxDOT construction and maintenance spending in 2008 and beyond. Amadeo Saenz, P.E., a transportation engineer with 29 years' state experience, took over as the executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) at the end of September — and began working to find ways to allow the agency to meet the state's highway needs despite increasing demand,rising costs and decreasing resources. Saenz, 51, was named to Texas' top transportation position by the Texas Transportation Commission in late September to replace Michael Behrens, who...

Coin trays in Texas cars may actually get to see the faces of dead presidents. The much-discussed and controversial Trans-Texas Corridor, or TTC, has breathed life into the debate of toll roads in Texas. Plans for the Trans-Texas Corridor include TTC-Instate 35, which starts in Laredo and extends north to Gainesville, running along the eastern part of Texas; and Interstate 69/TCC, which has three openings in Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville and follows the coast to Texarkana. Much of the TTC will be privately operated toll roads, run by the Spanish firm Cintra. The TTC will not run through San Antonio,...

Prop 12: Beware of the Hungry Tax Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. VOTE NO on Prop 12! The revenue hungry "Tax Wolf" is rearing its ugly head again with Proposition 12, which is carefully crafted to trick Texans to vote for debt, future tax increases and toll roads paid for with our tax dollars (an unaccountable double tax). In recent years, TxDOT has claimed they’ve run out of money, while they spend billions of our tax dollars to shift our public highways to toll roads and push the equally unpopular Trans Texas Corridor (TTC). Also to blame are Texas legislators, who...

Toll road contract in Texas allows state to lower speed limits on nearby interstate freeway to avoid paying penalties to a private company. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has agreed to consider lowering the maximum speed limit on a stretch of interstate highway that competes with a planned toll road. Cintra-Zachary, a joint Spanish-US venture, paid TxDOT $1.3 billion for the right to collect tolls on 40-miles of State Highway 130 set for construction beginning in 2009. Although TxDOT suggested that free market competition was part of the goal of using a public-private partnerships to construct and operate roads,...

So, you've no doubt decided already how you're going to vote on Prop. 12. Me, neither. In fact, until I started working on this column, I couldn't have told you that there are 16 amendments to our ever-ballooning Texas Constitution awaiting you on the Nov. 6 ballot, including one involving county inspectors "of hides and animals." Or that Proposition 12 would allow the Texas Department of Transportation for the first time to use general state revenue — sales taxes, oil taxes, etc. — to pay back money borrowed for roads. Up to $5 billion of borrowed money. Actually, it would...

All 22 constitutional amendments should be halted, she says A Houston lawyer said Tuesday that she will ask a Travis County judge to block 22 constitutional amendments passed by voters Sept. 13 from becoming law until the courts resolve her lawsuit challenging the election. Lawyer Valorie Davenport said it was illegal for Gov. Rick Perry to formally canvass the election results on Monday afternoon because she had filed a lawsuit contesting the election earlier in the day. Under Texas law, she said, none of the amendments -- including Proposition 12, which allows lawmakers to set limits on some damage awards...

Perry's timing of 3rd session saves hassles Thursday, September 11, 2003 Gov. Rick Perry left almost three weeks between the second and third special sessions for two reasons, even though the election clock for 2004 is ticking. First, Perry didn't want to rob attention from the effort to pass Proposition 12 on Saturday's ballot. That's the constitutional amendment to cut back on the noneconomic damages that injured parties can collect in civil lawsuits. By waiting to begin the third session on Monday, Perry and wife Anita were free to campaign for the amendment. Second, Perry wanted to fill various positions,...

On, September 13, Texans will have a chance to go and vote for or against Proposition 12, which limits non-economic damages in medical liability lawsuits to $750,000. The proposition leaves no limits on what a litigant can recieve in lost wages, medical and rehabilitation costs, and other economic damages. According to the Yes on 12 website, these are some facts about Prop. 12: 1. Proposition 12 is one of 22 proposed Constitutional amendments that Texas voters will be asked to consider in a statewide election on Saturday, September 13th. 2. Proposition 12 would validate the Texas Legislature’s work to rein...

Texans gear up for early voting start BY APRIL CASTRO Associated Press Writer AUSTIN - As Texans began casting early ballots on Thursday for the upcoming constitutional amendment election, activists from all over the political spectrum scattered across the state in an attempt to jump-start historically low voter turnout in their favor. Twenty-two proposed amendments are on the Sept. 13 ballot, but the focus of an intense media blitz has been on Proposition 12, which would change the Constitution to allow the Legislature to set limits on non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, in medical malpractice and other civil...

Aug. 26, 2003, 11:59AM Valley at epicenter of debate on malpractice caps By JAMES PINKERTON RESOURCES • Proposition No. 12: Concerns civil lawsuits against doctors and health care providers, and other actions, authorizing the Legislature to determine limitations on noneconomic damages. • Texans Against Prop 12 • Yes on 12 • Save Texas Courts • All propositions in Spanish • ElectionCentral.com HIDALGO -- A tripling of Dr. Frances Mitchell's malpractice insurance premiums last September forced her to close her family practice, the only one in this small town on the banks of the Rio Grande. "It was extremely painful," recalls...

<p>SAN JOSE - The mystery of "Rosebud" is solved.</p> <p>The secret donor who gave $1 million to the campaigns to pass California's last two parks bonds is Caroline Getty, a Southern California heiress to the Getty oil fortune and a longtime environmental philanthropist.</p>