Updates to our sister sites

By Faith Chatham - July 7, 2007
DFW REGIONAL CONCERNED CITIZENS publishes several related sites. In addition to our main page where readers can sign up to receive action alerts, we also publish several other sites.

ABOUT AIR AND WATER focuses on the environment. We post articles about gas drilling, pipelines, and water contamination, air quality, TXU buyout and other environmental issues. In the sidebar, we have links to sources for solar street lights, real time air quality readings including Current Ozone
Levels for the DFW Region, Hourly Air Pollutant and Water Pollutant Data, Airborne Particles (Smoke, soot, dust), Air Pollulant Watch List, and Air Quality Alert Data. There are links to websites of environmental groups where readers can get involved, Environmental Advocacy Groups in the NCTCOG region, and Water Conservation Districts Websites, If you know of websites which should be listed, please send the link to us at dfwrcc@gmail.com.

Most of the information on About Air and Water is activist-oriented. However we do post stories about events and entertainment including an article on the UTA Planetarium and links to games. We include links to interesting environmental sites. Resource links range from suppliers who allow you to rent solar panels to household tips for living green.

Articles are archived monthly. Visitors can read and print archived artices and search for them by keyword (or label/tags)


TEXAS RAIL is one of our newer blogs. We post content about rail relocation, schedules for the Fort Worth T, Trinity Rail Express, DART and links to Amtrak, schedules of meetings pertaining to rail services in Texas. We concentrate on the 16 County NCTCOG region but post content about rail in all areas of the state of Texas.

This site contains activist information but also contains lots of entertainment links of interest to rail enthusiasts. Content on the site is archived monthly. Archived posts can be read and printed. The site can be searched to topic, tag/label.

Our newest site is People Profit Power - Healthcare & Insurance or PPPHI. This site focuses on healthcare and insurance. In the sidebar we post links to social service resources in the NCTCOG region, helpful insurance informational links and other resources. On this site we focus on access to healthcare, insurance and governmental policy.

NEW TEXAS LAWS is an informational site. Many of the activists in the DFWRCC network have followed numerous bills through the 80th Texas Legislature. NEW TEXAS LAWS is a site where we can check on the language of a bill once it has been signed into law or became law without the governor's signature.

Grassroots News U Can Use is our oldest site. However, we only began listing it on search engines last month. For about a year it was used to post articles on the Trans Texas Corridor and candidates campaign diaries. Usually these posts were linked to articles in other blogs. Last month we began using Grassroots as a companion site to DFW REGIONAL CONCERNED CITIZENS. Content on DFWRCC focuses mainly on ethics and highway transportation. Grassroots News U Can Use contains content which amplifies transportation/ethics in government activism.

The Arlington Texan is a hometown portal for several of the founders of DFW RCC. It is an entertainment portal which allows us to post information to assist citizens of Arlington, Texas in learning of meetings and resources and information for participating in the environmental/ governmental process in Arlington. The media market is very fragmented in the DFW Metroplex. No one newspaper or television station reaches a majority of the citizens of Arlington. The "shelf life" of television broadcasts and newspaper stories is very short. The Arlington Texan is our attempt to keep some important content available longer to the citizens of Arlington. In the near future we will be adding new columnists on this site.

HUMAN IN TEXAS is DFW RCC co-founder Steve Blair's site. Steve is an environmentalist and policy analyst who has written on environmental and governmental issues for many years. Steve has collaborated on much of the research which has been posted on various sites by Faith Chatham during the past 2 years. He is one of several people who function as a "think tank" within the DFW RCC community.

Confidentiality Interests Prevent DOT From Handing Over Docs

By Laura McGann - July 5, 2007
The Department of Transportation is citing "confidentiality interests of the Executive Branch" as the reason for hanging on to at least 53 documents the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform wants to see.

The committee requested the documents for its investigation into whether DOT improperly lobbied Congress on behalf of the auto industry. DOT maintains that anti-lobbying measures do not apply in the alleged scheme because members of the agency contacted Congress directly. The measures only applies when an agency enlists citizens to lobby officials, lawyers for DOT argue.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) still wants a full look at the case. The situation emerged from California's request for an Environmental Protection Agency waiver that would allow it to heighten emissions standards in the state. When the deadline for EPA to make a decision neared, DOT employees contacted members of Congress about how the decision could affect the auto industry in their districts.

See Tpmuckraker

DOT Defends Lobbying Congress For Auto Industry
By Laura McGann - June 14, 2007
The Department of Transportation said in a letter earlier this week that anti-lobbying measures do not apply to its officers who contact members of Congress on behalf of the auto industry.

DOT announced this stance in a letter from the agency’s acting general counsel responding to the head of the House Committee on Oversight and Government’s request for information. The committee wants to hear more about an alleged plan to pressure members of Congress into persuading the Environmental Protection Agency to deny California a waiver allowing it to raise carbon emission standards.

DOT’s head lawyer Rosalind Knapp argued in her response that anti-lobbying law only applies when agencies call on private citizens to lobby Congress on their behalf. She also said that she advised several officials that it would not violate anti-lobbying provisions if they contacted members of Congress directly:

DOTs actions in no way violated anti-lobbying restrictions, as those provisions apply to and prohibit “grass roots” lobbying intended to encourage third parties, members of special interest groups, or the general public to contact members of Congreess or State legislatures in support of or opposition to a legistlative matter.
The executive director of The Project on Government Oversight Danielle Brian said the “grass roots” language comes from a case under the Reagan administration where the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin were accused of illegally lobbying Congress. The case made it illegal for agencies to get community members involved in lobbying, but allowed agencies to contact members of Congress directly.

Despite the historical standard, Brian said she still thinks DOT’s argument is worth challenging. “I think its important not to just accept the executive branch’s opinion on what is acceptable,” Danielle said. “Congressional lawyers need to look at that law as well.”

Waxman is still pursuing the issue. He responded to the letter from DOT’s general counsel Knapp saying that there is a "need for a thorough examination of the facts”

NOTE by Faith Chatham: The letter touches on a similar issue to that raised in Texas when US DOT stated that proposed legislation would violate Federal policy and probably cause loss of transportation funding.

Your Tax Dollars at Work - TxDOTs Letting Schedule for 2007 and final project costs

By Faith Chatham - July 6, 2007
TxDOT announces the letting schedule for highway contracts on their website.

The final costs are posted on completed jobs.
Several projects ran overbudget. However, a number of projects (mainly landscaping, signage, and pavement markings projects) ran underbudget.

Here are some of the projects. (To see the full list, see the TxDOT website.

COMPLETED PROJECTS:

LET DATE: Jan 2007
HIGHWAY: SP 482 - LET STATUS: Actual
GUIDE SIGN REFURBISING
FROM SH 183 to LP 12 - 1.8 miles
ESTIMATE: $37,111
ACTUAL: $32,886
Underbudget: $4,225

LET DATE: Jan 2007
HIGHWAY: SP 348 - LET STATUS: Actual
GUIDE SIGN REFURBISHING
FROM SH 114 to IH 35E - 3.1 miles
ESTIMATE: $32,679
ACTUAL: $30,384
Underbudget: $2,334

LET DATE: Jan 2007
HIGHWAY: LP 12 - LET STATUS: Actual
GUIDE SIGN REFURBISHING
FROM DUNCANVILLE ROAD TO IH 35E - 11.5 miles
ESTIMATE: $345,646
ACTUAL: $345,247
Underbudget: $399

LET DATE: Sept 2007
HIGHWAY: VA - LET STATUS - Actual
PAVEMENT MARKINGS VARIOUS ROADWAYS - ON SYSTEM IN NE DALLAS COUNTY TO ROCKWALL CO -NEAO - 86.1 miles
ESTIMATE: $3,326,534
ACTUAL: $1,868,636
Underbudget: $1,45l7,898

LET DATE: Sept 2007
HIGHWAY: VA - LET STATUS - Actual
PAVEMENT MARKINGS VARIOUS ROADWAYS - ON SYSTEM IN KAUFMAN COUNTY - 218.1 miles
ESTIMATE: $1,175,586
ACTUAL: $ 941,022
Underbudget: $823,436

LET DATE: Sept 2007
HIGHWAY: VA - LET STATUS - Actual
PAVEMENT MARKINGS VARIOUS ROADWAYS - ON SYSTEM IN ELLIS COUNTY - 99.9 Miles
ESTIMATE: $1,511,160
ACTUAL: $ 862,483
Underbudget: $648,677

LET DATE: Sept 2007
HIGHWAY: VA - LET STATUS - Actual
PAVEMENT MARKINGS VARIOUS ROADWAYS - ON SYSTEM IN CENTRAL DALLAS COUNTY - CDAO - 0.0 miles
ESTIMATE: $12,607
ACTUAL: $ 7,239
Underbudget: $5,368

LET DATE: Sept 2007
HIGHWAY: VA - LET STATUS - Actual
PAVEMENT MARKINGS VARIOUS ROADWAYS - ON SYSTEM IN SOUTHEAST DALLAS COUNTY - SEAO - 54.8 miles
ESTIMATE: $3,155,204
ACTUAL: $2,059,099
Underbudget: $1,096,105

LET DATE: Sept 2007
HIGHWAY: VA - LET STATUS - Actual
PAVEMENT MARKINGS VARIOUS ROADWAYS - ON SYSTEM IN SOUTHWEST DALLAS COUNTY - SWAO - 6.8 miles
ESTIMATE: $296,837
ACTUAL: $255,888
Underbudget: $40,949

LET DATE: Sept 2007
HIGHWAY: VA - LET STATUS - Actual
PAVEMENT MARKINGS VARIOUS ROADWAYS - ON SYSTEM IN NORTHWEST DALLAS COUNTY - NWAO - 0.0 miles
ESTIMATE: $7,327
ACTUAL: $4,319
Underbudget: $3.008

HIGHWAY: CS WIDEN 2 LANE FACILITY TO 4 LANE FACILITY ON SAMUEL BOULEVARD FROM IH 30 TO BUCKNER BLVD (NEAR CITY OF MESQUITE) - 2.5 miles
ESTIMATE: $20,155,730
ACTUAL: $17,789,497
Underbudget: $2,366,233


LET DATE: OCT 2006
HIGHWAY: SP 366 - Let Status: Actual
CONSTRUCT NEW 6 LANE BRIDGE OVER TRINITY RIVER AT TRINITY RIVER, WEST RIVER LEVEE, TO EAST TRINITY RIVER LEVEE - .04 miles
ESTIMATE: $64,004,883
ACTUAL: $69,674,804
COST OVERRUN: $5,669,921

LET DATE: OCT 2006
HIGHWAY: CS
WIDENING EXISTING FACILITY FROM 2 LANES TO 4 LANES DIVIDED
ON MOUNTAIN CRK PKWY FROM GRADY TO NIBLO RD EXIT TO SP 408 - 3.9 miles
ESTIMATE: $36,154,810
ACTUAL: $28,644,528
Underbudget: $7,510,282

LET DATE: Dec. 2006 - LET STATUS - Actual
HIGHWAY: VA ALTERNATIVE FUELS< CHG CONVERSION DALLAS LOVE FIELD 50 SHARED RIDE SHUTTLES AND 50 SHUTTLE BUSES 0.0 miles
ESTIMATE: $875,000
ACTUAL: $875,000
ON BUDGET

LET DATE: June 2007 - LET STATUS - Actual
REHABILITATE TRINITY RIVER BRIDGE (PHASE III)
IN DALLAS ON CORINTH STREET FROM 8TH STREET TO INDUSTRIAL BLVD - 0.6 Miles
ETIMATE: $2,511,921
ACTUAL: $1,865,330
Underbudget: $646,591

LET DATE: Nov 2006 - LET STATUS - Actual
HIGHWAY: CS DART LRT OVERPASS FROM SANTE FE TRAIL OVERPASS - HILL ST TO COMMERCE ON ABANDONED SANTA FE RR 0.0 miles
ESTIMATE: $1,000,000
ACTUAL: $ 329,712
Underbudget: $670,288

Of particular note in the Fort Worth District:
LET DATE: Jan 2007 LET STATUS: Actual
HIGHWAY: IH 30
TERMINATION OF HOV/MANAGED LANE AND TRANSITION MAIN LANES FROM BALLPARK WAY TO DALLAS COUNTY LINE - 3.6 miles
ESTIMATE $4,369,393
ACTUAL: $3,152,951

and in the Dallas District:
LET DATE: Jan 2007 LET STATUS: Actual
HIGHWAY: IH 30
CONSTRUCT MANAGED LANES FROM TARRANT COUNTY LINE TO EAST OF SYLVANA AVENUE - 13.0 Miles
ESTIMATE $3,982,127
ACTUAL: $3,095,784

IH 30 HOV MANAGED LANES TARRANT AND DALLAS COUNTIES:
UNDERBUDGET $2,102,785


UPCOMING:

LET DATE: July 2007 (FY 2007) contracts for the Dallas Region include:
HIGHWAY: SP 366 - Let Status: Approved
INSTALL SENSOR STATIONS WITH COMPRESSED CCT CAMERAS from IH 35E to US 75 (1.5 miles
Estimate: $964,178

LET DATE: July 2007
HIGHWAY - LP 12 - LET STATUS: Approved
REHABILITATION OF EXISTING ROADWAY
FROM PEMBERTON HILL ROAD TO US 175 - 2.0 miles
ESTIMATE: $2,893,706

LET DATE: Aug 2007
HIGHWAY: LP 12 - LET STATUS: Approved
INSTALL FREEWAY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ON NAFTA INCIDENT BYPASS
FROM SPUR 408 TO SH 183 - 7.9 miles
ESTIMATE: $5,032,000

LET DATE: Aug 2007
HIGHWAY: SP 408 - LET STATUS: Approved
INSTALL EQUIPMENT IN THE ITS COMMUNICATION BUILDING
From IH 20 to LOOP 12 - 4.3 miles
ESTIMATE: $120,972

LET DATE: AUG. 2007
HIGHWAY: SH 121 - LET STATUS - Approved
CONSTRUCTION OF GRADE SEPARATIONS AT FREEPORT AND SANDY LAKE
FROM TARRANT COUNTY LINE TO DENTON CREEK - 1.7 miles
ESTIMATE: $26,306,924

LET DATE: Aug 2007
HIGHWAY: VA - LET STATUS - Approved
CONSTRUCTION OF LANCASTER VISITOR'S CENTER IN THE DOWNTOWN CITY OF LANCASTER - 0.0 Miles
ESTIMATE: $1,695,000

TxDOT commissions border-wide bridge traffic study

The Brownsville Hearald - July 1, 2007
McALLEN — The Texas Department of Transportation is doing a yearlong study on how to make crossing into the United States from Mexico easier.

TxDOT is working with Austin-based planning, design and public involvement firm RJ Rivera Associates Inc. to conduct the Border Crossing Travel Time Study. Firm staff will look at road conditions and traffic and pedestrian counts up to two miles from 26 Texas-Mexico border crossings.

The study began in January and ends early next year. Some preliminary meetings have already taken place in Pharr with city and county government and transportation leaders, the Texas Department of Public Safety and others.

The study does not encompass traffic waiting on bridges or at security checkpoints, said Rafael Cruz Rodriguez, the firm’s project manager.

The study’s purpose is to determine what projects can be developed in five years or less to improve traffic and pedestrian flow.

Bettering border crossings would help with the flow of goods and services, said Keith Patridge, president and chief executive officer of the McAllen Economic Development Corp. He said improvements like streamlining state and federal vehicle checks should not hurt homeland security.

“It’s not a paperwork issue,” Patridge said. “It’s actually the physical constraints that come in by the capacity of the bridge roads, the movement of getting trucks off the bridge to (Expressway 83) and ultimately to (U.S. Highway) 281 north. All of those are the issues that create more of an issue than the actual time on the bridge.”

The firm also has set up a hotline to gather public input.

“It’s just basically to accommodate concerned citizens, to let us know what they feel the issues are or what experiences have they had while they are going through the TxDOT network once they cross the border crossing,” Rodriguez said.

Emma Garcia of San Juan has her ideas for making the crossing process better. She occasionally uses the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge to trek to Reynosa to shop and said both sides of the bridge need litter to be picked up and more security and lighting.

She said it has taken her up to two hours to leave the bridge and security area and wait in traffic on International Boulevard in Hidalgo, which becomes South 23rd Street once in the McAllen city limits.

“Sometimes you have to turn off the air conditioning because the car starts to turn off,” said Garcia, a unit director at the Pharr Boys & Girls Club.

MAKE YOUR COMMENTS KNOWN

RJ Rivera Associates Inc. has set up a toll-free hotline people can call in English and Spanish to give comments on their bridge crossing experiences. The phone number is (877) 800-6680.

ON THE WEB RJ Rivera TxDOT
www.rjrivera.com
www.dot.state.tx.us
See Brownsville Herald

TAXES AND GAS WELLS

TAXES AND GAS WELLS

Recently, it has come to be known that people who own property and mineral rights in Tarrant County may see a sharp increase in their Tarrant County Property Assessment Taxes. The Tarrant County Appraisal District is assessing new figures based upon the potential royalty earnings from Gas Well Drillings. Since lateral drilling allows lines to go one mile in any direction from the actual well site, literally every property/mineral rights owner in Tarrant may well be impacted.

Compound this with the Federal Income or Capital Gains Tax upon any royalties paid, and the royalty payments being promised by the drilling companies begins to significant pale.

Then add the Federal Windfall Tax, and royalty payments become negligible, or even negative.

But please note that none of these taxes are capped for anyone over the age of 65, and suddenly, many people on fixed incomes will be receiving the largest tax increase ever for them.

Is it not interesting that all of this was done without any information being made available to the public?

NTTA Anticipated Credit Watch Decision by Rating Agencies

NTTA - July 2, 2007
Plano, TX – On June 28, 2007, the Texas Transportation Commission selected the NTTA to develop and operate State Highway (SH) 121. NTTA expects to finance SH 121 through its Dallas North Tollway (DNT) System. The NTTA proposal for SH 121 committed an upfront payment to the State of $2.5 billion, $833 million marketable security or to be included in the upfront payment to the State, and estimated construction costs of approximately $700 million. Various interim financing tools are expected to be used for initial financing of the upfront payment and the construction costs. The take-out financing is planned to be accomplished through the issuance of long term debt under the NTTA's DNT System.

“We have a strong DNT System, a strong project, a strong team and a strong finance plan for the SH 121 toll project in Collin, Dallas and Denton counties in north Texas,” said Susan Buse, CFO, NTTA. “This is a great opportunity for the NTTA and a real plus for our customers and the citizens of north Texas. As we negotiate the project agreement with regional transportation leaders and the State, we will be finalizing our finance plan in full communication with the rating agencies, our bond insurers and the market.”

The DNT System’s long term debt is currently rated A1, A+ and A+ by Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, respectively. As previously acknowledged, ratings are expected to decline slightly for NTTA in connection with SH 121 financing and the lower ratings were reflected in the finance plan. This expectation is supported by the notifications from rating agencies that the NTTA's bonds have been placed on credit watch with negative indications.

“For the last two years, our Board of Directors has encouraged us to more efficiently leverage the System. The senior lien bond ratings are expected to remain in the “A” category from the rating agencies,” added Buse.

RBC Capital Markets is the NTTA's financial advisor, McCall, Parkhurst & Horton LLP is bond counsel and Bear Stearns & Co., Citigroup and Lehman Brothers are the senior managing underwriters for the SH 121 project financing.

About 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 seven-member governing board is comprised of Chairman Paul N. Wageman, Vice Chairman Jack Miller, Directors Gary Base, David Denison, William W. Meadows, Bob Shepard and Alan Sims.

The NTTA serves Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant Counties and is responsible for the Dallas North Tollway System, consisting of the Dallas North Tollway, President George Bush Turnpike, Addison Airport Toll Tunnel, Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge and the Mountain Creek Lake Bridge. The North Texas Tollway Authority 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.

Visit the NTTA Web site at or call 214-461-2000 for additional information about the North Texas Tollway Authority. For Customer Service, please call 972-818-NTTA (6882).

Political Toll - Moratorium preserves big chunks of Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor

by Eileen Welsome - The Texas Observer - June 15, 2007
The conservatively dressed representatives of the Texas Department of Transportation who walked into the Capitol rotunda this spring found themselves engulfed in a perfect storm. For months, bloggers had been at their keyboards, whipping up fractious constituents. Demonstrations had been held, bumper stickers passed out, and alliances forged between groups that normally find themselves at opposing ends of the political spectrum. They had a common goal: slaying the Hydra-headed monster—the Trans-Texas Corridor—a network of supercorridors with lanes for cars, trucks, trains, and pipelines, as well as other infrastructure.

Ric Williamson, who chaired the monthly Texas Transportation Commission meetings with the benign indifference of Henry the Eighth, could have looked out a window of the gothic Greer Building on 11th Street and seen the gathering clouds at the Capitol. But Williamson, an old friend of Gov. Rick Perry and an ex-legislator himself, was not concerned with such piffle. He had more important things on his mind, like the $86 billion shortfall that TxDOT faced in a few decades, when there would not be enough money to maintain roads. Williamson felt the best way to solve the $86 billion problem (a figure state auditors would later say was inflated) was to let deep-pocketed multinational companies build gleaming new tollways that would be paid for by Texas drivers for the next two, three, or even four generations.

Read entire article in The Texas Observer

Read earlier article:

Low-Hanging Fruit
Texas faces obvious problems that the 80th Lege should fix. It probably won't.

by David Pasztor - The Texas Observer - Jan. 26, 2007
Streets of Gold

Since 2001, a clique of powerful Texas officials and their friends in the business community have been laying the legal and legislative groundwork to build a network of superhighways and toll roads. One of the most ambitious road-building plans in the world, the for-pay highways will suck up thousands of acres of farmland, induce development, and do little to reduce congestion along the state’s most glutted highways, most notably Interstate 35.

In the process, thousands of miles of state roads that have already been paid for by motorists through gasoline taxes will be turned over to multinational firms that will collect tolls for the next 50 years or so. The deals have drawn plenty of criticism, but with the help of state legislators and a fleet of Madison Avenue-styled public relations firms, highway officials so far have succeeded in steamrolling the opposition. The current leadership authored the plan and has shown little willingness to back away.

New highway proposals are on the drawing board, and portions of State Highway 130, which will likely be the first leg of what’s called the Trans-Texas Corridor 35, are already open. Perry, Round Rock’s Republican state Rep. Mike Krusee, and Ric Williamson, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, are the three officials primarily responsible for pushing this new world order.

In the coming weeks, the Texas Department of Transportation—an agency with annual revenues greater than the entire income of some states—will be back at the Legislature trying to widen its powers. It will also be asking for millions to fund a new entity called the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund, which basically will help two of the largest rail carriers in Texas—Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and Union Pacific Corp.—upgrade their rail lines and cash in on the staggering growth in freight transportation projected for the next 10 years or so.
TXDOT wants to lift the cap on the 50- to 70-year contracts so it can negotiate more contracts lasting for as long as 100 years with multinationals from Spain, Australia, and Sweden. TXDOT also wants to amend state laws so it can perform its own environmental reviews and approvals. It might seem like an obvious conflict of interest for a department whose main function is to bulldoze and pave, but TXDOT says it could use the latitude to build projects faster, thereby reducing congestion, improving air quality, and enhancing safety.

Though deals are being drawn up, contracts signed, and concrete poured, there’s still time to rethink the toll roads if legislators decide to enact a moratorium and demand an open and honest debate with the public about how to address transportation gridlock. Then voters could be allowed to decide by what road they prefer to travel. That, as the poet says, may make all the difference.

The Best Leadership Money Can Buy
A good argument can be made that Texas’ inability to deal with its pressing problems stems from the ironclad grip a few contributors and lobbyists hold over the state’s policy agenda. The influence of their money drives the privatization debate and is felt in most every policy area, from education to transportation and electricity to social services. In one small example, most Texans, including most legislators, are opposed to school vouchers. The fear is that they will take money away from already underfunded public schools. Yet in 2005, Speaker Craddick scheduled a vote on a voucher bill. Might this have had something to do with the fact that the state’s biggest voucher proponent, hospital-bed magnate James Leininger, is also one of the GOP’s biggest political donors? Most recently, in the 2005-2006 election cycle, Leininger gave more than $5 million to Texas candidates. He’s not the only one. Republican home builder Bob Perry—the biggest political donor in the state and nation—gave $6.7 million to Texas candidates and political action committees, according to campaign watchdog Texans for Public Justice.

A number of simple steps could instantly diminish the power of money over sound public policy in Texas. The first would be an aggregate limit on individual contributions. Texas is one of the few states that have no limits on the size of campaign contributions, allowing mega-donors like Perry and Leininger to swamp an election with an endless flow of cash. During the 2004 election cycle, 87 individuals or couples donated more than $100,000 each to state candidates and committees. This accounted for 10 percent of all political donations. TPJ is part of a campaign-reform coalition that has suggested a modest contribution cap of $100,000 per election cycle. While legislation has been filed along these lines, with the current leadership it’s not likely to prosper.

In June 2006, state District Judge Mike Lynch tossed out a felony indictment against the Texas Association of Business. Lynch ruled that TAB had not expressly advocated the election or defeat of candidates when it spent $1.9 million in secret corporate money on “issue” ads in the 2002 election cycle. Lynch wrote in his order that most “non-technical, common-sense people” would see the ads as clearly violating the law, but that “these statutes and this indictment aren’t equipped to do the job [of keeping corporate money out of elections].” Unless the law is strengthened to strictly prohibit the use of corporate money for electioneering, business interests like TAB will once again use undisclosed corporate money to smear candidates with whom they disagree.

Finally, more legislation would probably not be necessary if Texas had a functioning Ethics Commission. Unfortunately, to call the current commission dysfunctional and ineffectual is charitable. It is a paper tiger, underfunded and, worse, loathe to enforce the law or improve upon it through its rule-making authority. At a minimum, legislators should create a separate law-enforcement division for the commission. They should also provide for a budget based on a funding formula that is independent of the Legislature. Finally, the eight-member commission should be abolished and replaced with one accountable executive director. As with most of what Texas desperately needs fixed, the state’s leaders won’t likely give the keys to the henhouse back to the public this session without a fight.

See entire article