Taxpayers will foot the bill for efforts to promote the tolling of roads throughout Texas after Governor Rick Perry (R) vetoed legislation that would have reined in public relations efforts at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Only one member of the entire legislature voted against the proposed bill that would have amended existing law to clarify that pro-tolling advertising campaigns could no longer be bankrolled with state funds. “This section does not authorize the department to engage in marketing, advertising, or other activities for the purpose of influencing public opinion about the use of toll roads or the use of tolls as a financial mechanism,” House Bill 2142 stated.
In one year, TxDOT spent $10.5 million on 130 public relations and government affairs staff, including a full-time lobbyist. The agency also created a special report designed to convince the US Congress to hand TxDOT the authority to toll existing freeways (view report). The group Texans United for Reform and Freedom (TURF) found the lobbying campaign so outrageous that it filed a lawsuit to stop the effort. The suit was put on hold after it appeared that the legislature had addressed the issue.
Governor Perry, however, stood by his plan to promote tolling Texas roads.
“Marketing toll roads as a user-fee-based alternative to congested highways is important to relieving congestion on other state roads and keeping Texas moving,” Perry explained in his veto message.
Also on Friday, Governor Perry signed Senate Bill 882 into law. This measure allows TxDOT to pay amounts “in excess of $250,000” to design-build firms that submit unsuccessful bids for major toll road projects.
“The mantra in Austin is ‘The sky is falling, we have no money for roads,’ yet we have money to pay losing bidders who won’t even build any roads?” Texas TURF Founder Terri Hall said. “Wouldn’t every other industry that bids on government contracts love this goodie?”
US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) is using Perry’s support for tolling as a campaign issue in her bid to unseat the governor. Last month she introduced legislation that prohibits the imposition of tolls on existing free highways, bridges or tunnels built with federal funding. The Republican primary will be held in March, and as of May a Rasmussen Reports poll showed the race was “essentially tied.”
Rick Perry can not be voted out of office soon enough.
Maybe Rick Perry can disappear to Argentina for a week without telling anyone where he is going or how long he will be gone. Unlike Gov. Sanford, he probably would not be missed.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/23/sanfords-story-questioned_n_219809.html
May be he can implement his toll road policies when he is President of Republic of Texas!
Rick Perry needs to go away as soon as possible. I can’t wait for the next election and vote him out.
I’ve always found alternatives to toll roads, so I suspect a lot of other people will as well.
Anybody driven through Texas from NM to OK on I-40? Show of hands please. ;)
Can you imagine what would happen to the traffic on the last remaining scraps of old Route 66 if those idiots in TX tried to make I-40 a toll road?
Rick Perry can not be voted out of office soon enough.
This. I’ll even vote for Kay-Bailey.
One has to ponder what the governor’s motives are. Certainly he or an associate stands to profit from this.
Between toll roads and traffic cameras to generate, it feels to me like we are inching towards subjecting motorists to plain old extortion.
He must be getting a heck of campaign contribution from those toll road guys. Man I know folks who would sooner vote a democrat back in then Perry.
Not happy with using Texas state funds to promote toll roads. On the other hand, I regularly use NTTA roads. As long as the toll road is built with both toll lanes and free lanes on the service road, I don’t mind. In North Texas the toll roads have a better record of being built on schedule and within budget than the tax funded roads.
Texas 121 Sam Rayburn Tollway
http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4183
NTTA first with toll tags
http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/153
Unlike Gov. Sanford, he probably would not be missed
With talk like that you are likely to bring down the wrath of B-Con or Ronnie or someone.
As for the Gov… cut him some slack… at least he had an affair with a woman, that alone is a bit of a change these days for Republicans.
Perry is an embarrassment. Is Kinky going to run again?