Cities Lose Out on Road Funds From Federal Stimulus

By MICHAEL COOPER and GRIFF PALMER - The New York Times - July 8, 2009
Two-thirds of the country lives in large metropolitan areas, home to the nation’s worst traffic jams and some of its oldest roads and bridges. But cities and their surrounding regions are getting far less than two-thirds of federal transportation stimulus money.

According to an analysis by The New York Times of 5,274 transportation projects approved so far — the most complete look yet at how states plan to spend their stimulus money — the 100 largest metropolitan areas are getting less than half the money from the biggest pot of transportation stimulus money. In many cases, they have lost a tug of war with state lawmakers that urban advocates say could hurt the nation’s economic engines.

The stimulus law provided $26.6 billion for highways, bridges and other transportation projects, but left the decision on how to spend most of it to the states, which have a long history of giving short shrift to major metropolitan areas when it comes to dividing federal transportation money. Now that all 50 states have beat a June 30 deadline by winning approval for projects that will use more than half of that transportation money, worth $16.4 billion, it is clear that the stimulus program will continue that pattern of spending disproportionately on rural areas.

“If we’re trying to recover the nation’s economy, we should be focusing where the economy is, which is in these large areas,” said Robert Puentes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, which advocates more targeted spending. “But states take this peanut-butter approach, taking the dollars and spreading them around very thinly, rather than taking the dollars and concentrating them where the most complex transportation problems are.”

The 100 largest metropolitan areas also contribute three-quarters of the nation’s economic activity, and one consequence of that is monumental traffic jams. A study of congestion in urban areas released Wednesday by the Texas Transportation Institute found that traffic jams in 2007 cost urban Americans 2.8 billion gallons of wasted gas and 4.2 billion hours of lost time.

The Times analysis shows that a little more than half of the stimulus money will be spent on “pavement improvement” projects, mostly repaving rutted and potholed roads. Nearly one-tenth of it will be spent to fix or replace bridges. More than a quarter of the money will be spent to widen roads or build new roads or bridges.

But the projects also offered vivid evidence that metropolitan areas are losing the struggle for stimulus money. Seattle found itself shut out when lawmakers in the State of Washington divided the first pot of stimulus money. Missouri has directed nearly half its money to 89 small counties which, together, make up only a quarter of the state’s population. The United States Conference of Mayors, which did its own analysis of different data last month, concluded that the nation’s metropolitan areas were being “shortchanged.”

Pat McCrory, the mayor of Charlotte, N.C., said his city “did pretty terrible” when it came to getting money. Of the $423 million in projects approved so far in North Carolina, only $7.8 million is going to Mecklenburg County, the state’s most populous county and the home of Charlotte.

Cleveland was initially promised $200 million of Ohio’s stimulus money to help build a five-lane bridge to replace the 50-year-old Innerbelt Bridge, which is so deteriorated that officials banned heavy truck traffic on it last fall. But state officials, worried about meeting federal deadlines, took back $115 million in stimulus money and decided to use it on shovel-ready projects elsewhere.

The state promised to find another source of money for the bridge project, but now Ohio’s largest stimulus project is the $150 million it is spending to build the Nelsonville Bypass in southeastern Ohio, which officials say will alleviate a bottleneck and improve transportation to Appalachia.

Transportation experts said the stimulus was drawing attention to a longstanding trend.

“We have a long history of shortchanging cities and metropolitan areas and allocating transportation money to places where few people live,” said Owen D. Gutfreund, an assistant professor of urban planning at the City University of New York who wrote “20th Century Sprawl: Highways and the Reshaping of the American Landscape” (Oxford University Press, 2004).

Professor Gutfreund said that in some states the distribution was driven by statehouse politics, with money spread to the districts of as many lawmakers as possible, or given out as political favors. In others, he said, the money is distributed by formulas that favor rural areas or that give priority to state-owned roads, often found far outside of urban areas.

Mayors had lobbied Congress to send the money directly to cities, but in the end, 70 percent of the money was sent to the states to be divided, and 30 percent was sent to metropolitan planning organizations, which represent the local governments in many metropolitan areas.

Those organizations were not bound by the June 30 deadline for getting their projects approved, so metropolitan areas could eventually see their share of the transportation money go up. Other pots of money in the transportation bill stand to benefit metropolitan areas more, including the $8.4 billion for mass transit and the $1.5 billion that the federal Department of Transportation can award to projects of national or regional importance.

Some cities have been delayed in winning approval for their projects. New York City is expecting $261 million of the highway stimulus money. It had hoped to start work in May on its biggest project, a $175 million rehabilitation of the St. George Ferry Terminal in Staten Island, but the project has yet to win approval.

Transportation is currently a hot topic in Washington, where Congress plans to pass a new six-year transportation law within the next year and a half. Washington’s difficulty in directing its transportation aid has led to calls for a national infrastructure bank, which would rank projects and help them get financed.

Obama administration officials, who have called for ending sprawl and making sure that federal transportation spending is cost-effective, say they are looking at how states are spending the money from the stimulus law, officially called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the current system.

“The transparency that comes with Recovery Act funds is letting us see what’s happening in real time, and that’s a good thing,” said Roy Kienitz, an under secretary of transportation for policy. “Understanding where recovery dollars go and why will help us determine how to shape long-term transportation policies with the goal of getting the most benefit for every dollar.”

Read more in the New York Times

Toll road item may threaten session - Contract protections sought if private leases to remain legal.

By Ben Wear - AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF - Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The spoiler of Gov. Rick Perry's midsummer's dream of a three-day special session could be the "Nichols language."
The consensus seems to be that few problems exist with the first two items on Perry's session "call" — essentially the allowable agenda for the session — that would extend the life of five state agencies, including the Texas Department of Transportation, and allow TxDOT to issue $2 billion in debt.
But there could be trouble with the third and last item, legislation granting a reprieve to a statutory death sentence for private toll road leases.
During the regular session, state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, carried a bill that would have extended by six years the legal authority for TxDOT and regional mobility authorities to sign what have usually been 50-year contracts with private companies to build and operate (and profit from) tollways on public land. Authority for such leases expires Sept. 1.
The general understanding was that the legislation's final passage was dependent on approval of a separate bill by state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, that would put limits on such contracts. Both bills passed the House and Senate, either with their original bill numbers or as part of the main TxDOT bill that died late in the session.

The question is, will that linkage still be the case in the special session? Nichols said Monday that it had better be, or the toll road item could end up in the ditch.
"I feel very strongly about it, and so do many" other senators, Nichols said.
Carona said Monday that he could see eliminating at least some of what Nichols had in mind if a toll road lease extension were passed that applied to only a handful of projects for which officials have already decided who — TxDOT or local toll authorities — will be in charge of the projects. That list reportedly includes extending the Texas 130 tollway north from Georgetown to Hillsboro, building the new Interstate 69 from south of Refugio to the Rio Grande Valley and adding toll lanes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

However, even in those cases, Carona said, "you'd have to have at least put some protections in there."

That would potentially include limiting so-called noncompete clauses in private tollway leases and requiring that the contracts specify what government would pay if it wanted to prematurely end a lease and take over a road. Nichols' Senate Bill 17, among other things, said that noncompete clauses would apply only in a four-mile strip along either side of a toll road built under such a lease.

Noncompete clauses, a common feature in toll road agreements, typically say the government cannot build a free road nearby that would lower usage of the tollway and thus its revenue. Or, if such an adjacent free road were built, then the toll road operator would be entitled to compensation.

So, what would Perry do if something close to SB 17 were attached to the extension legislation in the special session? Some officials said that such an amendment could be determined to be outside the scope of Perry's call. Nichols disagrees with that.
Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said Perry's staff is talking with Nichols' office to discuss his concerns.

Carona said, "One source in the governor's office indicated that any bill that contained the Nichols language would be vetoed. Another said that's not necessarily so."
Read more in the

Austin American-Statesman

Perry vetoes bill to prohibit TxDOT’s ad campaigns to sway public opinion in favor of tolling

Citizen lawsuit to stop TxDOT’s taxpayer-funded lobbying to continue

By Terri Hall -TURF.– June 23, 2009

Austin, TX - Governor Rick Perry vetoed HB 2142 (authored by Rep.Ruth McClendon), which could have settled the issue of the Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT) misuse of taxpayer money to attempt to sway public opinion in favor of toll roads, particularly privatized toll roads, and the Trans Texas Corridor.

“Governor Perry prefers to pour salt in the wound instead of allow meaningful reform of his highway department that’s run amok and lost the trust of many Texans. The wholesale outrage over TxDOT’s propaganda campaign from taxpayers and lawmakers alike prompted the Legislature to act, and, as is his usual course of action, Perry instead chooses to stick his thumb in Texans’ eyes rather than protect citizens from the abuses of taxpayer-funded lobbying,” concluded Texas TURF Founder Terri Hall.

"Losers" still get paid

To further demonstrate the Governor's (and Legislature's) total disregard for fiscal responsibility when it comes to toll roads, he also signed SB 882 (authored by Sen. John Carona) that EXPANDS payments to LOSING bidders by Regional Mobility Authorities (RMAs) to design-build contracts and allows those payments to exceed $250,000 (which was the cap placed on payments to losing bidders on Comprehensive Developments Agreements in 2007)!

"The mantra in Austin is 'the sky is falling, we have no money for roads,' yet we have money to pay LOSING BIDDERS who won't even build any roads? Wouldn't every other industry that bids on government contracts love this goodie? They didn't pass a bill to continue TxDOT or the Department of Insurance, but they were sure to pass this one," Hall noted.

SB 882 also repeals the prohibitions on Board members and RMA Directors from receiving gifts and contributions, which clearly takes a step backwards and allows conflicts of interest to abound.

Keep Texas Moving dubbed propaganda campaign

Lawmakers studied TxDOT's ad campaign in-depth in the interim between the 2007 and 2009 legislative sessions where even the Director of the Government and Public Affairs Division (GPA), Coby Chaseadmitted in testimony before the State Affairs Committee that “maybe we did overdo it.” Both chambers overwhelmingly passed this bill to send a clear message that TxDOT can only provide public information not crossover into public persuasion on the taxpayers’ dime. As a result of its overreach, the TxDOT sunset bill, HB 300 (which failed to pass), had required the GPA division report directly to the Legislature.

In 2007, TxDOT raised eyebrows when it waged an ad campaign called Keep Texas Moving that clearly tried to change public opinion in favor of Perry’s toll road policies, including hiring registered lobbyists (in excess of $100,000 a month) to get buy-in from local elected officials for the Trans Texas Corridor and persuade members of Congress to allow TxDOT to buy-back existing interstates for the purpose of tolling them. (Read more here.)

TURF vs. TxDOT before the Appeals Court

TURF appeared before the Third District Court of Appeals April 24, 2009, in its lawsuit (TURF vs. Texas Department of Transportation or TxDOT) to halt the misuse of taxpayer money for attempting to sell the public on toll roads. Justices demonstrated they were monitoring the actions of the lawmakers in regards to legislation pertaining to the case and noted that the Legislature had acted. TURF attorney, Charles Riley, pointed out that the public cannot be assured TxDOT has been restrained by proposed legislation since the Governor could still veto it. Unfortunately, Riley was proven right by Perry’s veto Friday. Perry’s veto all but ensures the case will continue.

The lawsuit was brought in September 2007 pursuant to § 37, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. TURF believes the law clearly prohibits TxDOT’s expenditure of public funds for the Keep Texas Movingpro-toll, pro-Trans Texas Corridor propaganda campaign.

TxDOT has violated § 556.004 of the Texas Government Code by directing the expenditure of public funds for political advocacy in support of toll roads and the Trans Texas Corridor, and have directly lobbied the United States Congress in favor of additional toll road programs as evidenced in its report, Forward Momentum.

Not a license to lobby the public and elected officials

TxDOT claims it has the authority to advertise and promote toll roads citing Chapter 228.004 of the Transportation Code. However, lawmakers have stated they never intended that law to give license to TxDOT to lobby the public in favor of toll road policy, but rather advertising more akin to “get your Toll Tag here.” Rep. Lois Kolkhorst said in an Express-News article in September 2007, "The Legislature did not tell TxDOT to go on a media campaign explaining the pros of the Trans-Texas Corridor and private equity investment (in toll roads).”

“TxDOT is still waging a one-sided political campaign designed to sway public opinion in favor of the policy that puts money in TxDOT’s own coffers. TxDOT may have ceased hiring outside consultants, but by its own admission, it has instead hired an in-house lobbyist, and its Keep Texas Moving web site and use of Department resources continue to attempt to get buy-in for toll roads from lawmakers and the public alike,” says an incredulous Hall.

On August 22, 2007, TURF filed a formal complaint with the Travis County District Attorney to investigate TxDOT’s illegal lobbying and asked him to prosecute TxDOT for criminal wrongdoing. See the formal complaint here. TURF's petition seeks to stop TxDOT's misuse of taxpayer money in a civil proceeding.

Terri Hall is the Founder of Texas TURF. TURF is a non-partisan grassroots group of citizens concerned about toll road policy

KUDOS to Dallas Observer for Coverage of Dallas Budget Process

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - June 18, 2009
It's refreshing to see reports of an elected official break from "incumbent-speak" and call fee increases what they actually are: "tax increases." Mithcell Rasansky has done it before but this is the first time I've seen it this prominent in a report.

It has happened many more times than it has been reported. I hope it keeps happening more often and I hope reporters will take note and include it in their coverage. Fees are taxes. Tolls are taxes. Ignoring them and excluding them from receipts and tax percentage numbers is shoddy bookkeeping. It is done in attempts to deceive the public.

I don't think most people are that dumb or that gullible. Most people realize the difference between the money they start out with and the money they miss at the end of the day.

The Dallas Observer's coverage captures the "flavor" of City of Dallas Budget meetings. I hope more elected officials on more levels will follow Councilwoman Angela Hunt's example and plug the numbers into spreadsheets. If the numbers given don't add up, demand clarification in terms that the numbers do add up before a vote is taken. If votes are attempted before comprehendable clarification is given, object to the vote in strong enough terms that reporters who dozed off for a minute wake up and take note!

Rasansky Calls Budget "Non-Transparent," Says Increased Fees Are a Tax Increase and Introduces $21.7 Million in Savings

By Sam Merten in News You Can Actually Use, Actually Use - Dallas Observer - Wednesday, Jun. 17 2009

City Manager Mary Suhm, Mayor Tom Leppert and CFO Dave Cook all stressed this morning that the city is facing the same budget challenges as other cities and states. As Cook briefed the city council for the last time before a more detailed budget is presented August 10, he said the more than 700 projected layoffs are expected to begin in August and claimed most other cities are in worse shape as some are laying off police officers, while Dallas plans to hire another 200 officers in the coming fiscal year.

He cited approximately $130 million in declining revenue as the most significant contributor to the $190 million deficit, and said Dallas is using similar methods as other cities to address the shortfall, such as implementing furlough days (which saves Dallas approximately $800,000 per day), closing public buildings and increasing user fees instead of raising taxes.

But, as far as Mitchell Rasansky is concerned, jacking up fees and raising taxes are one in the same. He claimed the proposed increases to utilities are equivalent to a 2.3 cent property tax hike.

"This is a tax increase," Rasansky said. "Anyway you want to look at it, it's a tax increase."

Long known as the council's tax hawk, Rasansky made the most out of his last opportunity to weigh in on the budget before he's replaced on Monday by Ann Margolin, who was in attendance. After thanking Suhm and her staff for their work, he offered some harsh criticism of the proposed budget.

"This is the most non-transparent budget I've ever seen since I've been down here at City Hall," he said.

Rasansky battled Leppert twice because the mayor only gave council members five minutes each to speak, as Rasansky blasted him for not giving him time to explain all of the $21.7 million in cuts he proposed.

He handed out a memo to the council (which you can see below) suggesting the city dip into the "unrealized gain" of $21.2 million in the city's investment pool that won't mature until early 2010. Although he acknowledged the city will lose some dough by cashing in early, he said pulling out $7.5 million would serve to close the gap or fund services on the chopping block.

Also among his nine suggestions is grabbing $10 million from the city's contingency fund that has contained approximately $20 million for the last 20 years and removing $1.5 million from the city's $5 million emergency fund.

Other cost-cutting measures offered up by Rasansky are reducing the Trinity River Corridor Project staff from 15 to eight, combining city bills into the same envelope, selling advertising on the envelopes and charging developers a 1-percent application fee when applying for tax abatements or other incentives.

Angela Hunt said she's confused about why Suhm can't provide council members with line item budgets to assist them in finding cuts and understanding how the money is spent. Suhm said cooking up a line item budget would force city staff to stop work on the budget, and she stressed that the numbers change on a daily basis.

Hunt also asked once again for the budget to be separated into departments, saying her constituents "don't think in terms of key focus areas." She dropped some numbers into an Excel spreadsheet on her own and expressed concern that it appears as though the Public Works and Transportation Department's budget will increase by more than 50 percent from the actual 2007-08 budget.

While it's a rough draft, her document (which was provided to Unfair Park) shows reductions of 73.7 percent to housing and 31.6 percent to libraries compared to the '07-'08 budget, yet the mayor and city council's budget is planning to see a 10.2 increase in funding.

"We've all got to roll up our sleeves on this budget because it's so challenging," she said.

Dave Neumann appeared enamored with Hunt, using her as an example on two separate occasions, once as a hypothetical constituent and another time as a citizen. He also praised her for previous comments when she stressed that the city must focus on providing citizens with core competencies.

"This is not a wish-list year for the budget," he said. "It's an essential-list year."

Dallas Observer

DFW has second-worst road rage in nation

BY LEE WILLIAMS - The Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Tue, Jun. 16, 2009
Drivers in Dallas-Fort Worth are rude, angry, distracted and often dangerous.

So much, in fact, that we rank No. 2 among metropolitan areas with the worst road rage, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Affinion Group, a national marketing and consulting firm.

Coming in at No. 1 was New York (big surprise). Detroit was No. 3, followed by Atlanta and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Miami, which had been No. 1 for four years, dropped to No. 7, and Houston, the only other Texas city mentioned, came in at No. 8.

The AutoVantage In the Driver’s Seat Road Rage Survey is based on interviews in the top 25 metro areas in the United States.

"The thing that really drove Dallas-Fort Worth up the list was that drivers were No. 1 for confessing to tailgating, cutting off people . . . and admitting that they talk on their cellphones," said Michael Bush, Affinion’s public relations director.

Those surveyed also said that texting, speeding, eating and putting on makeup led to incidents of road rage.
Read more in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Texas AG Declares North Texas Toll Contracts "legally insufficient"

By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER - The Dallas Morning News - Friday, June 12, 2009

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has refused to sign off on the first of two major private toll road projects approved for North Texas earlier this year.
Abbott said provisions in the contract with the Spanish firm Cintra, which is slated to build the North Tarrant Express in Fort Worth and the mid-cities, violate the Texas Constitution and must be amended.

State law gives Abbott the power to hold up the contracts indefinitely if they are not "legally sufficient."

Negotiations between his office and the department have already extended for weeks beyond an initial 60-day deadline.

Cintra has agreed to spend billions in North Texas to build the North Tarrant Express toll road and to rebuild the LBJ Freeway.

But in return, the state department of transportation has pledged more than $1 billion in tax dollars toward the projects. As a result, main lanes on both highways will be free, but Cintra will collect tolls for 52 years on adjacent lanes.

The LBJ Freeway contract has not yet been reviewed, but it is likely to be saddled with the same legal issues.

Abbott said the department's contract for the North Tarrant Express obligates the state to pay $740 million over several years to Cintra.

"The Texas Constitution says that one Legislature cannot financially bind a future Legislature," he said.

The contract must be amended to reflect that any promises for payment are subject to discretion of future sessions of the Legislature, Abbott said.

Any provision that leaves payments from the state subject to future action by the Legislature could give Cintra pause.

TxDOT continues to work to meet Abbott's objections and to settle on terms agreeable to Cintra, spokesman Chris Lippincott said.
Read more in the Dallas Morning News

Lower traffic and toll revenue prompts $108 Million decrease in NTTA 2009 Budget

NTTA Reduces 2009 Budget and Other Expense Estimates
By NTTA - June 15, 2009

Plano, TX – Today, at a meeting of the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) Administration Committee, staff announced it reduced the 2009 budget and other expense estimates by approximately $108 million as a result of a 10.91% decrease in projected revenues for 2009. The revenue projections for 2009 were lowered by the NTTA’s traffic and revenue consultant after they reviewed the traffic numbers for the first four months of 2009.

The reductions were made in the capital improvement, reserve maintenance and feasibility study funds.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and make adjustments where necessary,” said Allen Clemson, the NTTA’s Executive Director. “Despite the reduction, projects such as the Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge, Eastern Extension of the President George Bush Turnpike and construction on the Sam Rayburn Tollway will remain on schedule. We will also continue serving our customers and working hard to meet our commitments to the region.”

Tomorrow, NTTA staff is expected to recommend a toll rate adjustment to the NTTA System Finance and Audit Commitee, including adjusting the rates, reset dates and adopting a distance-based toll.

About the NTTA

The North Texas Tollway Authority, a political subdivision of the state of Texas, is authorized to acquire, construct, maintain, repair and operate turnpike projects in the north Texas region. The nine-member governing board is comprised of Chairman Paul N. Wageman; Vice Chairman Victor Vandergriff; and Directors Kenneth Barr, Gary Base, Bob Day, David Denison, Michael Nowels, Bob Shepard and Alan E. Sims.

The NTTA serves Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties and is responsible for the NTTA System, consisting of the Dallas North Tollway, President George Bush Turnpike, Sam Rayburn Tollway, Addison Airport Toll Tunnel, Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge and the Mountain Creek Lake Bridge. The NTTA is able to raise capital for construction projects through the issuance of turnpike revenue bonds. NTTA toll projects are not a part of the state highway system and receive no direct tax funding. Tolls are collected to repay debt and to operate and maintain the roadways.

Trinity toll road delay may extend to 2016

By BRAD WATSOn - WFAA-TV - Monday, June 1, 2009
DALLAS - Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert's goal of finishing the Trinity River toll road by 2014 sank Monday with the announcement that the controversial highway won't be done until perhaps 2016, if then.

Design work will stop while the city spends millions of dollars to study and repair the levees.

Approved by voters in 1998, the latest deadline to open the Trinity toll road in 2014 slipped away just like all the others.

"It will be put off into the 2015, 2016 time frame, and that will be the 20-month delay on it," he said.

The city must spend $29 million to study what levee repairs to make after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rated the levees flood protection unacceptable.

The Corps found too much erosion, obstacles like trees in the floodway and bridge penetrations in the levees.

The repairs will cost more that the Corps may share. The impact to residential and commercial property owners along the river is immediate.

If the city can't prove to the federal government by early 2011 that the levees are sound or make the repairs then the government will declare Dallas has no flood protection.

"We're saying it’s the prudent thing right now to go ahead get flood insurance when it’s the low rates," Leppert advised property owners.

The delay could push the $1.8-billion toll road past $2 billion.

Critics, like city council member Angela Hunt, said the planned highway between the levees should be dropped from the Trinity project to move ahead with levee and park improvements.

"We've got to untangle these projects so that those projects aren't all delayed by two years because of the delay on the toll road," she said.

But that wouldn't solve the worsening downtown traffic congestion the toll road is to help relieve.

For now, the city and Leppert said they believe the best choice is to press on.

"And we're not going to give up," Leppert said. "There's too much at stake for that.”

Read more on WFAA

Construction costs should stabalize or decrease: Continuing on a downward trend, the price of construction materials fell 0.4 percent in April 2009

Construction Materials Prices Trend Lower in April

Continuing on a downward trend, the price of construction materials fell 0.4 percent in April 2009, according to the May 14 producer price index (PPI) report by the U.S. Labor Department. On a year-over-year basis, construction input prices dropped 3.7 percent (see graph below).

Asphalt felts and coatings prices dropped 10.5 percent in April, the largest month-over-month decline in 55 years. Prices for fabricated structural metal products fell by 1.0 percent from March making the seventh consecutive montly decline, but are still up 0.7 percent on a year-over-year basis. Fabricated ferrous wire prices decreased 0.7 percent in April while maintaining a year-over-year increase of 2.9 percent.

In contrast, softwood lumber prices increased, for the first time in seven months, by 1.6 percent. Still, year-over-year, softwood lumber prices are down 10.2 percent. Plumbing fixtures and fittings prices rose by 0.5 percent compared to the previous month, and are 1.1 percent higher than a year ago.

Crude energy prices went up by 2.9 percent in April after a 1.6 percent increase in March, driven by an increase in crude petroleum prices of 9.2 percent. Overall, a spike in food costs drove the nation’s wholesale prices up 0.3 percent from March, but prices are still down 3.5 percent on a year-over-year basis.

“Given the weakness of the broader economy, lower construction materials prices are a necessary ingredient to stimulate nonresidential construction in segments not directly impacted by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009," said Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Chief Economicst Anirban Basu. "It is hoped that producer prices will remain low or continue to decline allowing developers to move ahead with projects, in part, because of limited financing opportunities.

“However, there remains significant debate regarding the recent run-up in oil and other commodity prices. Some believe that this is a reflection of rising inflationary expectations, which are emerging primarily due to a combination of extreme monetary and fiscal stimulus,” added Basu. “Others believe that there are more mundane explanations, including growing seasonal demand for certain commodities and growing confidence in the performance of the global economy as 2010 approaches.

“Whatever the explanatory factors, any consequential increase in construction materials prices would be unfortunate from a broader national perspective,” said Basu. “The nation remains in the midst of a period characterized by substantial infrastructure investment, and rising construction materials prices would ultimately hurt the ability of federal, state and local governments to purchase more infrastructure projects.”

Read more in ABC Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.

Action Alert- Eyes on the TX Leg: Carona's SB404 Extending CDAs on Toll Roads sent to House Calendar for Vote

Research by Martha Estes - May 19, 2009
Source: Texas Legislature On-Line
House Cmte. Report sent to Calendars 05/19/2009
The HOUSE Transportation Cmte. reported on SB 404 by Carona.
Caption: Relating to the authority of certain toll project entities to enter into a comprehensive development agreement
It will probably appear on a HOUSE calendar very soon.
An analysis is offered below from TLO.

BILL ANALYSIS C.S.S.B. 404 By: Carona
Transportation Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

H.B. 3588, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, changes the structure of Texas transportation infrastructure financing by allowing public-private partnerships as a means for developing transportation infrastructure through comprehensive development agreements (CDAs). Chapters 223 and 370, Transportation Code, authorize the use of CDAs; however, the authority provided for under these chapters expires in August 2009. With limited means of funding transportation projects, CDAs are a necessary tool for providing financing for future transportation infrastructure.

C.S.S.B. 404 extends that the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation or a regional mobility authority to enter into comprehensive development agreements, for an additional four years.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.S.B. 404 amends the Transportation Code to postpone from August 31, 2009, to August 31, 2013, the expiration date for the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation or a regional mobility authority to enter into comprehensive development agreements and to postpone from August 31, 2011, to August 31, 2015, the expiration date with respect to certain exempted projects. The bill specifies that its provisions take effect only if S.B. 17 or another similar bill of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, relating to the design, development, financing, construction, and operation of certain toll projects, including the determination of the primacy process for local toll project entities, becomes law.

EFFECTIVE DATE

Except as otherwise provided, September 1, 2009.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.S.B. 404 postpones the expiration dates relating to the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation or a regional mobility authority to enter into comprehensive development agreements for four years, rather than six years as in the original.

ACTON ALERT: TELL LEGISLATURE TO PASS Tx H.B. 15

BILL ANALYSIS (Texas) H.B. 15

By: Leibowitz

Transportation Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

A metropolitan planning organization (MPO) is an agency created under federal law to provide local input for urban transportation planning and allocating federal transportation funds in cities with a population greater than 50,000. There are twenty-five MPOs in Texas. The largest is the Dallas-Fort Worth MPO and the smallest is the Sherman-Denison MPO. Each MPO receives federal funding for transportation planning. Many receive state andocal funds as well in order to carry out their planning activities.

Transportation planning decisions are made by the policy board of an MPO. This can be as benign as the planning of bike routes in an urban area or as controversial as the construction of toll roads. The policy board of an MPO can be made up of a mix of elected and non-elected officials. Currently, unelected officials, some not even permanent residents of the urban area affected by the MPO they sit on, cast votes on approving the construction of toll roads. Unelected officials who are not accountable to voters should not be allowed to essentially levy a tax on the citizens of a community.

H.B. 15 allows only the elected officials on an MPO policy board to vote on toll road projects.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS:
H.B. 15 amends the Transportation Code to prohibit a member of the policy board of a metropolitan planning organization from participating in a vote of the board to approve the construction of a new toll project or the conversion of a nontolled project to a toll project unless the member is an elected official.

H.B. 15 provides for the prohibition to take effect, either as an amendment to Chapter 371, Transportation Code, as added by Chapter 103 (H.B. 570), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, or as an amendment to Chapter 372, Transportation Code, as redesignated by and contingent on passage of the Act of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in existing codes.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 1, 2009.

Source: Texas Legislature On Line

NOTE FROM FAITH CHATHAM: 12:27 P.M. May 14, 2009
Rep. Frost's aide says this bill was on yesterday's House Calendar for the second reading and was not voted on. It is late in the session and it appears that it is too late for this bill to be passed. Texans will continue to have non elected persons sit on Metropolitan Planning Organization, deciding what roads will and will not be planned, built and funded!

Channel 33 on Tolls or Gas Tax

CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE IN POLL:

Revamp of Texas Department of Transportation gains momentum

By DAVE MONTGOMERY - Fort Worth Star Telegram - May 7, 2009
AUSTIN — House members took strong steps late Thursday to make the massive state transportation bureaucracy more accountable to the public, calling for an elected statewide commissioner and 14 elected representatives.

House members rejected a proposal that would have required the Texas Department of Transportation to buy environmentally friendly "green cement" in what lawmakers said was a slap at Midlothian cement plants blamed for much of the pollution in North Texas.

The legislation under consideration by the House would continue the department for another four years while strengthening state oversight in hopes of averting problems. The bill is designed to curb some of the powers the department amassed earlier in the decade and dissolve what Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, described as a "backdrop of distrust and frustration."

The amendment requiring green-cement purchases, defeated by a vote of 97-30, touched off a contentious debate between Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, whose district includes the Midlothian plants, and North Texas lawmakers insisting on tougher controls over the kilns.

"Mr. Pitts, you know I love you, but I have to stand up for the people in my district and the children in my district," Rep. Paula Pierson, D-Arlington, said as she debated Pitts from the microphone at the rear of the chamber.

Though Midlothian was never mentioned, the intent of the amendment by Rep. Roberto Alonzo, D-Dallas, was clear. It would have required the use of so-called dry technology that produces fewer pollutants, instead of the older "wet" technology used in Midlothian.

Over a half-dozen local governments, including Tarrant County, Fort Worth, Dallas, Arlington and Plano, have adopted "green cement" purchasing preferences.

"How dare you come into my district and try to close a plant" that has been an economic boost to the area, Pitts told Alonzo, saying that emissions in the area have been reduced by 64 percent over the past decade. Pitts said automobile emissions produce "more pollution than this plant."

"Our biggest problem [in North Texas] is not this plant — it’s highway traffic," Pitts said.

Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, told Pitts that "it’s pretty outrageous for you" to suggest that North Texas residents should not be concerned about pollution from the cement kilns, adding that "children in my district are breathing bad air" because of the emissions.

The bill stems from the sunset review process that requires lawmakers to examine the performance of selected state agencies during each legislative session.

The Transportation Department sunset bill is considered one of lawmakers’ top priorities this session, reflecting the scope of the bureaucracy, the importance of transportation projects and legislators’ desire to put the department under greater scrutiny. Lawmakers faced 162 amendments as they began debate on the bill.

"The public felt like they were not involved in the process at all, and all the members of the House felt the same way," Harper-Brown said.

North Texas leaders consider transportation their top issue as they develop regional strategies to deal with congestion and pollution that threatens to hamstring economic growth. The need for additional roadways across the state has increased with the population, leaving Texas with an estimated $300 billion shortfall in transportation needs.

The Transportation Department had a budget of $17.5 billion for the 2008-09 fiscal biennium, much of which was devoted to planning, building and maintaining roads and bridges, according to the House Research Organization. The department has a staff of 14,500 in its Austin headquarters and 25 district offices.

House members rejected efforts to strip one of the bill’s cornerstones, a legislative oversight committee designed to make recommendations for state transportation needs.
DAVE MONTGOMERY, 512-476-4294

Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive May 9th

Saturday May 9, 2009


NALC - Stamp Out Hunger


The National Association of Letter Carriers' Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the largest one-day food drive in the nation. On May 9th, North Texas residents are encouraged to donate non-perishable food items and place them by their mailbox for their letter carrier to collect. Letter carriers will then deliver the food to the North Texas Food Bank where it will be sorted by volunteers and distributed to the Food Bank's 917 feeding and education programs in 13 North Texas counties. Don't forget: Leave non-perishables by your mailbox May 9th!
North Texas Food Bank http://www.ntfb.org/

Legislative Alerts: Senate Bills Scheduled for Consideration May 4

By Martha Estes - May 3, 2009
SENATE

Mon. May 4th @ 11am in SENATE Chamber
Postponed Business:
SB 18 (CS) Estes/ et al.

Relating to the use of eminent domain authority. Co-authors: Carona, Deuell, Eltife, Harris, Hegar, Hinojosa, Mike Jackson, Dan Patrick, Seliger, Shapiro, Uresti, Van de Putte, West, Williams, Zaffirini
Analysis (as filed): http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/analysis/html/SB00018I.htm

Currently, the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the taking of private property for public use without just compensation, commonly referred to as the "takings clause." Section 17, Article I, Texas Constitution, prohibits a person's property from being taken, damaged, or destroyed without consent for public use without adequate compensation.

As proposed, S.B. 18 modifies the process governing eminent domain proceedings, standards of evidence that could be considered by a court in the course of making decisions regarding damages, obligations placed upon condemning entities, and the rights of previous owners to repurchase taken property. S.B. 18 authorizes special commissioners to take into account any evidence that a property owner would consider in a negotiated transaction outside the standards set forth in the chapter. This bill modifies the price at which previous owners could repurchase condemned property on which a public use was cancelled within 10 years of the acquisitions to be the price paid to the owner by the governmental entity at the time the property originally was acquired, rather than the fair market value of the property at the time the public use was canceled. S.B. 18 requires a governmental entity, for each property or group of jointly owned contiguous properties to be condemned, to formally authorize by motion the initiation of condemnation proceedings at a public hearing by a record vote by adding the Truth in Condemnation Procedures Act. S.B. 18 requires the comptroller of public accounts to identify all entities public and private, with eminent domain authority and make recommendations to the legislature regarding that authority.

Second Reading:

SB 1282 Williams
Caption: Relating to the powers of certain freight rail districts

SB 1283 Williams
Caption: Relating to the supervision by the TxDOT of money appropriated by the federal government for the construction and maintenance of rail facilities

SB 1923 Watson
Caption: Relating to funding sources for the Texas rail relocation and improvement fund

SB 612 (LC) Shapleigh
Caption: Relating to the powers and duties of the TxDOT related to rail facilities

SB 1570 (LC) Carona Caption: Relating to the facilitation, analysis, and implementation of high-speed passenger rail in this state.

SB 1382 (LC) Carona Relating to the coordination of the planning, construction, operation, and maintenance of a statewide passenger rail system by the TxDOT

SB 2096 (CS) (LC) Wentworth
Caption: Relating to the creation of and the powers of a comprehensive multimodal urban transportation authority, including the power to impose taxes, issue bonds, and exercise limited eminent domain authority

SB 1351 (CS) (LC) Carona
Caption: Relating to the terms of the members of the Texas Transportation Commission (2 years)

SB 505 (CS) Ogden Caption: Relating to authorizing the designation of an area adjacent to a state highway project as a transportation finance zone and requiring that the revenue from the state sales and use taxes imposed in the zone be used to pay obligations issued in connection with the project.