Texas House and Senate Try to Reshape Monstrous Transportation Bill: What will it mean for their Corridor?

(Photo courtesy National Laboratory for Bad Government, Austin, TX)


"Face lift, liposuction, or brain augmentation?"

With angry farmers and villagers at their door, Texas lawmakers made a show at giving their transportation abomination a bit of drive-by cosmetic surgery, according to Postcards from the Lege.

House Bill 3588, was spawned by Gov. Rick Perry and the "Highway Twins" (Rep. Mike Krusee & Sen. Steve Ogden). It was the enabling legislation that made the nightmarish Trans-Texas Corridor possible. The bill would demolish property rights and suck the life out of rural communities.

So far, few Texans really know about the Trans-Texas Corridor. Krusee, who is Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, squelched House Bill 3363, which would have placed the Corridor on hold for two years while public discussion could take place.

Instead, the Texas House debated House Bill 2702. At first glance, the bill appeared to have some merits. Apparently, it would place some limits on the Corridor with nearly 30 amendments. So, what happened next? The Senate Transportation Committee got hold of it. Now they want to cut out the language from House Bill 2702 and replace it with Senator Todd Staples' Senate Bill 1706.

Confused? The Texas Observer explains it well enough. To view their article click HERE.

Whatever happens, you can bet this "new and improved" version will not pass the smell test.

Why? Because the lawyers operating behind the scenes are some of the same pork doctors who cooked it up in the first place.

Did I mention our state senators suspended their own rules to avoid an open public meeting?

I guess they were in a hurry.

A complete timeline of news articles and web posts related to the Trans-Texas Corridor (1999-Present) can be viewed by clicking links located in the right side bar of this page under the heading TTC NEWS WATCH.