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AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following statement today regarding Texas House Speaker Joe Straus' appointment of members to the House Select Committee on Transportation Funding, Expenditures and Finance: "The new select committee has serious work before it, in both innovative reform and funding. Only by tackling both reform and funding can we build the roads needed to support Texas' growth," said Chuck DeVore, TPPF's Vice President of Policy. "Pending voter approval this November, transportation will receive an additional $1.2 billion per year. Additional resources, if needed can be found by saving money elsewhere in Texas' $100 billion per year budget. "Procurement reform, specifically design-build contracting, saved taxpayers about $1.08 billion over the course of five contracts. Yet, there is a restriction on the number of value of design-build procurements in state law. Fully lifting this restriction may save taxpayers $1.2 billion per year-as much as is projected to be generated by diverting revenue from the Economic Stabilization Fund. We hope that the new committee will fully explore this, and other reforms, to provide best value to Texas taxpayers, commuters, and industry."
The Honorable Chuck DeVore is the Vice President of Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He served six years in the California Assembly and is the author of "The Texas Model: Prosperity in the Lone Star State and Lessons for America." The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.
Primary website: www.TexasPolicy.com -30- |
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