Lucky (?) 13
Transportation writer Jake Batsell is watching the machinations on toll roads for us. He reports:
Will Amendment 13 be lucky or cursed?
As lawmakers haggle behind the scenes on SB 792, the compromise transportation bill that would overhaul the state’s toll road policies, grassroots activists are rallying around the one amendment they want kept in at all costs.
The bill includes the much-ballyhooed, partial two-year moratorium on private toll-road contracts. While most North Texas toll projects would be spared from the freeze, most observers have assumed all along that the moratorium would include TTC-35, the controversial Trans Texas Corridor toll road that would roughly parallel I-35.
To make double-sure, Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, added House Amendment 13, which would prohibit private toll roads from being constructed in separate legs called “facility agreements.” Ms. Kolkhorst said she wants to prevent the Texas Department of Transportation from dodging the moratorium by using flexible semantics to build TTC-35.
Now, while a conference committee negotiates with Gov. Rick Perry’s office on which amendments to keep and which to ax, CorridorWatch – the grassroots group that opposes the Trans-Texas Corridor – is launching an all-out blitz to save Amendment 13 from the cutting-room floor.
Over the past few days, CorridorWatch has sent out several blast e-mails to supporters, furnishing lawmakers’ phone and fax numbers as well as links to form letters. They even came up with a mantra.
“Open the floodgates!” read one missive sent out yesterday. “SB792 With 13 is Okay; Without 13 – No Way!”
The troops have taken up the cause. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s office set up a separate fax machine to accommodate an overflow of messages – some involving Amendment 13, and others urging action on hot-button bills that address horse slaughtering and children’s health insurance.
“I’ve heard other members talk about 13 – it’s getting a lot of support,” said Rep. Wayne Smith, R-Baytown, the transportation bill’s House sponsor. “I had a member tell me that he was getting text messages and phone calls on his cell phone. Which means he’s got too many people who know that number.”