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This week I will discuss the interim charges issued to the House Committee on Transportation, which I chair. Interim charges are the issues that the Speaker asks committees to study during the time between regular legislative sessions in order to make recommendations for legislation for the following legislative session. The charges are good indicators of what legislation the legislature will take up during the next session. Legislators rely on public input when crafting legislation, and it is important that they hear from people during the interim.
House Committee on Transportation
• Evaluate actions by state agencies under the committee's jurisdiction to increase transparency, accountability, and efficiency. Consider the cost-saving outsourcing of technologies and recently developed practices, such as the conversion of roadways, used by the Department of Transportation designed to demonstrate savings. Identify and make recommendations on the credibility and effectiveness of these goals.
• Monitor the usage of state funds by the Texas Department of Transportation for improving road quality in areas impacted by Energy Sector activities.
• Evaluate the status of Texas's port system, including a review of the structure and operations of the Maritime Division of the Texas Department of Transportation.
• Evaluate the status of passenger and freight rail in Texas, including a review of the structure and operations of the Rail Division of the Texas Department of Transportation.
• Review the state of our current transportation infrastructure outside of the five most populous areas. Explore future needs of our infrastructure and make recommendations to ensure long-range sufficiency.
• Monitor the implementation of the "Turn-Back Program" by the Texas Department of Transportation, specifically its fiscal impact to municipalities and taxpayers.
• Examine county authority to utilize tax increment financing and transportation reinvestment zones to fund transportation projects.
• Monitor and review the efforts of the Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) Texas Technology Task Force (TTTF). The TTTF shall study emerging transportation, communication, and computing technologies and determine physical infrastructure and system components that TxDOT or other state departments would need to provide to enable selected technologies.
The House Committee on Transportation can be reached at 512-463-0818. For more information on these charges or any other matter of state government, please contact my office by writing to P.O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768-2910 or by emailing me at larry.phillips@house.state.tx.us. My district office phone number is (903) 891-7297.