There They Go Again. . .

Statement: There they go again, 2030 plan includes wildly inflated and  unrealistic transportation costs

TYLER-”First it was $50 billion. Then it was $82 billion. Now Rick Perry’s TXDOT is saying they need $332 BILLION? There is no one at TXDOT who has any credibility on transportation funding. Rick Perry has himself repeatedly lied about the need for toll roads and changing our funding mix. Todd Staples went one step further and actually helped pass legislation that made it easier to convert public highways to toll roads, mostly because we ‘couldn’t afford any other type of road’.

The truth, as always, is that we need to index the gas tax and that can make up the difference between what TXDOT needs and what revenue will currently be available. However, we cannot grant this governor and this agency a wish list of everything they want. TXDOT should have to justify their needs which are then appropriated by the Texas Legislature in each biennium’s budget. TXDOT should not drive this state further into debt. That being said, this most recent number is just as reliable as any of the other numbers.

It’s time for real justifications, not more of these ridiculous studies designed to generate ever larger numbers that do nothing but scare Texans into accepting the sale of our roads. We certainly can’t trust TXDOT, Rick Perry or Todd Staples.”