The committee met on January 20, 2016 to hear invited testimony on the following agenda items.
Update from TxDOT working group on project selection criteria, rules and policies for project prioritization and selection, and funding categories
Tryon Lewis (Chairman), Texas Transportation Commission
- Funding is a dynamic area
- Legislature has rightly asked us to be accountable with selection
- Chair Pickett explains that there is a good process in place right now, it just needs to be honed to ensure that the best projects are chosen
- There is never enough money so we have to use it efficiently
James Bass (Executive Director) and Jessica Butler (Unified Transportation Program Coordinator), TxDOT
- Butler says the next formal report on HB 20 is due March 31 with performance metric and measurement tools
- Ongoing collaboration and input from legislative committees and stakeholders will continue to be taken
- Rep. Simmons asks if previous uncertainty on intent of designed build in HB 20 has had an impact
- Uncertainty has not had an impact to date
- Conflict is clearly resolved that there should be no more than 3 designed build contracts each year
- Rep. White asks how robust RPO input is in process
- MPOs are required to approve projects that use federal funds in their area
- District Engineers work closely with RPOs to attempt to meet their wishes, but they do not require RPO approval
- Pickett says it has always been important to him that RPOs have as much say as possible in these processes
- Pickett wants to make sure that although some projects are being put into play before full implementation, these projects are not seen as circumventing the process
- These are high need projects and are not circumventing HB 20
- Projects put into play before full implementation will provide great benefit for citizens
Victor Vandergriff (Executive Director), Texas Transportation Commission
- Pickett asks if Vandergriff is confident that we can retrospectively decide how we did in bidding process
- Yes, we go back and look at our initial plans and then how much we actually awarded
- We make sure we deliver the projects we promise to deliver
- Believes the selection criteria and the analysis of success should be more robust going forward and believes we will get there
- Pickett says most MPOs defer to experts, so projects are not vetted with too much scrutiny, so TxDOT needs to be able to self-inspect
- We need to be more specific on analyzing the success of projects
- Simmons asks if the private industry is being included in the process
- We are behind, but the private industry’s input will be taken into account
- Simmons wants to make sure there are no repercussions for private industry members who may disagree with TxDOT
- Simmons wants to measure how well and timely the industry is paid and what their key issues are
- Private industry needs open input
- Rep. White asks what the process of RPOs is in the process being laid out
- RPOs are brought into the process and are a major stakeholder
- RPOs can pull from connectivity category (category 4)
- Category 2 is complementary to category 4 and usually focuses on rural areas outside of metropolitan areas
- The safety category (category 8) is very important for rural areas because car flips are common with small shoulders
- There are multiple measurements that can be used to measure congestion
- Pickett says he wants to look at different ways to control congestion including some tolls
- In the first top 100 lists of congestion, not all roadways listed were not on the state system, but now they are
Federal Reauthorization Bill
James Bass (Executive Director) and Jessica Butler (Unified Transportation Program Coordinator), TxDOT
- Bass says apportionments to Texas under Federal Highway Plan through FAST Act have increased
- Apportionments are planning dollars, but are not committed funds which are called obligation authority
- There was previously no commitment from congress to transfer money from general funds to Highway fund previously, so Texas had been conservative with plans
- There is now a commitment
- Pickett asks how many contracts we let in a two year period
- Bass says we let over 2,000 projects
- Pickett says there is an increase in committed dollars, but says we need to put federal dollars into a smaller number of projects because it allows us to move faster
- This is an area we could improve on
- If we use more development credits, we can fully fund projects with federal funds to use that money on fewer projects as opposed to splitting it with state money
- Pickett asks if any federal passenger rail funds come to Texas, will it only go to AmTrack?
- It would not be restricted to AmTrack
- Much of the $10 billion of federal funding is for AmTrack, but there is additional funding for freight rail
- We do not yet know how much of these funds will come to Texas
- TIFIA low interest loan program for highway projects has been scaled back
- It is generally used on toll roads, but it is not required to be a toll road
- DART got a TIFIA loan
- Pickett notes that municipalities and private entities may also receive TIFIA loans
- Out of broad STP program, the share that goes to MPOs is increasing under the FAST Act
- As we look to designate and build out Interstate 69, there is a provision that will allow oversize overweight permits to continue drive on Interstate 69
Comptroller estimates regarding both Proposition 1 and Proposition 7 funding for the upcoming year and the next biennium
Glenn Hegar, Comptroller of Public Accounts
- Pickett says that Prop 1 dollars have been above the numbers that he and Sen. Nichols projected in 2013
- Hegar says $1.1 billion have been transferred into Rainy Day Fund and Fund 6 at the end of FY 2015 due to Prop 1
- Oil prices have fallen from $70 to around $30/barrel during Hegar’s time, but Texas is more diversified than we were in the 1980s
- Transfers over to Fund 6 from Prop 1 were not committed, so funds have fallen
- FY 2017 sales tax collections are estimated at $30.6 billion which means we should be able to transfer the $2.5 billion to transportation in 2018 from Prop 7
- There are extreme dives in sales tax and motor vehicles tax, but over the last 20 years they have an overall positive trend
- Pickett notes that we have diversified to ensure transportation funding
- Simmons asks what percentage of our tax revenues are based on different industries
- Oil and gas 14%
- Manufacturing 13.5%
- Professional sector, insurance, and healthcare are growing significantly
- Construction contributes heavily
- Lower retail gas prices have led to increased gas tax collections
- 4.2% increased gasoline tax in 2015
- Retail prices of gasoline have not had significant diesel fuel tax implications as of yet
Meeting Adjourned