Because the Sunset review of the Texas Department of Transportation will be reconsidered by the 82nd Legislature, TCCRI will have another opportunity to achieve significant reforms to the governance of the agency.

At the same time, the vigorous debate over local option transportation taxes in the 81st Legislature, primarily in the form of SB 855 and SB 17, indicates that the disparate approaches to transportation finance need to be debated and reconciled with a clear direction for conservatives.

Historically, road construction and maintenance has been directly funded by the motor fuels tax and bonds. Yet revenues from Fund 006 (the State Highway Fund) are routinely diverted from highway construction and maintenance, and are appropriated to six other agencies, including the Office of the Attorney General, the Health and Human Services Commission, and the Texas Education Agency. Ending diversions must be a priority. Bonding capacity and transportation-related debt must be carefully considered as well.

Increasingly, governments are turning to private sector funding sources for transportation infrastructure projects. The free market has a role to play in building and financing transportation infrastructure.

The purpose of this Task Force will be to study necessary reforms to the Texas Department of Transportation, as well as transportation financing.