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The Senate Committee on State Affairs has been charged by Lieutenant Governor Bill Ratliff to study transportation issues during the interim. The committee will:
* actively monitor the Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT) update of the Texas Transportation Plan. The Plan is updated every five years and is the blueprint for a multimodal, statewide transportation system. "Multimodal" refers to the integration of several types of transportation such as passenger rail, freight rail and highways along the same corridor.
* determine how the Plan addresses issues such as transportation funding, traffic congestion, multimodal transportation, rural transportation planning, NAFTA-related traffic, and establishment of acceptable levels of service for traffic to move efficiently. The Committee may also recommend solutions to the state's transportation funding shortfall.
* evaluate developments related to the commercial trucking industry. This study should include an evaluation of the state's ongoing efforts to enforce truck safety regulations efficiently and fairly; developments at the state and federal levels related to opening our highways to Mexican truck traffic; and the effect of heavy truck traffic on our state and local roadways.
* examine the need and feasibility for establishing a state agency or commission for Native American affairs. The Committee should determine whether certain issues facing the Native American community are being adequately addressed by existing state agencies. The issues to be examined should include diabetes susceptibility, alcohol abuse prevention, educational opportunities, water rights, land ownership, burial ground disturbance, historical representation, and tax administration.
The Committee schedules hearings throughout the year. Dates and locations are posted at http://www.senate.state.tx.us. If you have comments or suggestions on any of these issues, please write to my Capitol office at P. O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768 and I will forward your correspondence to the Committee for their consideration.
State Representative Ron Clark
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768-2910
(903) 893-9426 * (512) 463-0474
(512) 475-3767 (fax)
ron.clark@house.state.tx.us
http://www.grayson.edu/district62/RonClark.html
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