SB792 is Now The New and Improved TTC CDA Moratorium Bill.
Thursday House vote: 145 to 2
Representative Lois Kolkhorst came through on Thursday with a couple great amendments that will ensure the moratorium really stops the Trans Texas Corridor for two years.
SB792 is a virtual bullet-bill, but not bullet-proof.
The vote to pass SB792 on second reading, as amended, was an incredible 145 to 2. Then, only minutes later the House did something rarely seen, they suspended the Constitutional Rules and moved to take a third and final vote immediately without waiting until Friday.
Now the bill will be shot over to the Senate where they had hoped to get it on the Governor's desk by Friday morning. The big question is will they accept it as amended by the House, or complicate the process by going to a conference committee.
Almost three hours of TTC bashing.
The vast majority of discussion and debate that took place on the House floor today displayed open contempt for the Trans Texas Corridor. Most other toll and highway projects where left alone, except SH281 and Loop 1604 in San Antonio. That wasn't the case with the Trans Texas Corridor.
Representative after Representative told the assembled body how much their constituents dislike the TTC. Representative Harvey Hilderbran said that in his district there was, "zero support for the TTC." That caused someone on the floor to reply, "less than zero."
It was very clear that the members of the House have been hearing us and our concerns about the Trans Texas Corridor. It was especially gratifying to hear Representatives say that the TTC comes nowhere near their district.
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