Legislative Affairs
Both the Texas Legislature and the United States Congress address many important transportation issues that affect the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Transportation and air quality in the North Central Texas region are impacted by legislative decisions at the State and federal levels.
NCTCOG staff regularly update policy and technical committee members, transportation partners and others interested in monitoring legislative initiatives related to the Regional Transportation Council (RTC) legislative priorities.
In order to understand current legislative initiatives, the RTC directed the development of a Transportation Funding 101 primer so legislators and the general public can better understand funding sources for transportation as well as trends that impact the amount of funding available. A shortfall of funding has been identified and the primer also addresses potential solutions to increase funding options.
Legislative Update
June 6, 2025
FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.
President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or HR 1, is now in the hands of the Senate. The House approved the reconciliation bill in late May and now the Senate plans to take action and deliver the package to President Donald Trump's desk by their self-imposed July 4 deadline.
On May 30th, the administration submitted its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget request, including proposed funding levels for USDOT. These documents will guide the House and Senate Appropriations Committees in drafting their respective bills. USDOT requested a total budget of $144.2 billion for FY 2026. The proposed budget represents a 2.4 percent increase compared to the previous fiscal year.
FROM AUSTIN
Members of the Texas Legislature adjourned Sine Die on Monday, June 2nd. Legislators finalized a $338 billion two-year statewide budget in the final days of session. Funding for TxDOT includes $39.9 billion over the next two years, which is around $375 million less than the previous budget. This decrease is mostly due to a $600 million reduction in funding for port improvement projects and ship channel loans. However, highway planning and design, right-of-way acquisition, construction and maintenance will get a slight funding boost overall. Even though federal highway funds are dropping by $777 million, the state expects to collect $1 billion more from sources like gas taxes and vehicle fees. Additionally, the supplemental appropriations bill (HB 500) added $506 million for TxDOT, including $250 million to help build safer railroad crossings (SB 1555). Funding TCEQ also includes several key components. TCEQ will be allowed to temporarily use funds from the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) account at the start of the biennium because the TERP Trust is required by law to start with a zero balance; those funds must be reimbursed later. The agency will receive $181.5 million in federal funds (a $69 million increase) mainly to support a new well-plugging grant program and expand other environmental efforts. Moreover, TCEQ will receive $29.7 million to support efforts to address population growth and increased federal requirements in areas like air and water quality, permitting, and public engagement.
NCTCOG staff will put together summaries of transportation and air quality bills that were approved and include in a future legislative update.
MONITORED BILLS LIST
If you need information on the bills being tracked, please contact Jackie Nolasco at jnolasco@nctcog.org.
HIGHLIGHTED BILLS WITH ACTION
- HB 24, Relating to procedures for changes to a zoning regulation or district boundary. Sent to the governor on May 31, 2025.
- SB 2321, Relating to the regulation of emissions by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality during an event affecting electric demand or grid reliability. Sent to the governor on June 1, 2025.
- HB 2011, Relating to the right to repurchase from a condemning entity certain real property for which ad valorem taxes are delinquent. Sent to governor on June 2, 2025.
- SB 15, Relating to size and density requirements for residential lots in certain municipalities; authorizing a fee. Sent to governor on June 3, 2025.
- SB 763, Relating to the renewal and review of standard permits for certain concrete plants. Sent to the governor on June 2, 2025.
- SB 1964, Relating to the regulation and use of artificial intelligence systems and the management of data by governmental entities. Sent to the governor on June 3, 2025.
UPCOMING COMMITTEE HEARINGS
US HOUSE
- The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing will meet on July 7 for a subcommittee markup of draft Transportation-HUD appropriations bill for FY 2026.
Texas Legislature - 89th Session January 14, 2025 - June 2, 2025
- Regional Transportation Council Legislative Program for the 89th Texas Legislature 
Texas Legislature - 88th Session January 10, 2023 - May 29, 2023
- Regional Transportation Council Legislative Program for the 88th Texas Legislature
- 88th Texas Legislature Summary of Bills (2023)
Other Resources
- Texas House of Representatives
Congressional Updates important to our region
In 2005 Congress passed the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) . This legislation guided surface transportation policy and funding through 2009. Nine short-term extensions passed since SAFETEA-LU expired in 2009. The final short-term extension of SAFETEA-LU extended surface transportation authorization through June 30, 2012.
On July 6, 2012, President Obama signed into law a two-year $105 billion surface transportation authorization, titled Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21). MAP-21 reauthorized the federal-aid highway, highway safety and transit programs that were last authorized by SAFETEA-LU. New programs and funding levels began on October 1, 2012, and continued through September 30, 2014. The final short-term extension of MAP-21 expired on December 4, 2015.
On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act into law, which authorizes Federal highway, transit, safety and rail programs for five years at $305 billion. The FAST Act is effective October 1, 2015 through September 30, 2020.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), signed into law by President Biden on November 15, 2021, is a five-year bill that authorizes $567.5 billion for surface transportation, including roads and bridges, and an additional $550 billion for water, broadband, cybersecurity, and energy infrastructure. With a total funding amount of $1.2 trillion, the act aims to modernize infrastructure across the nation and is set to expire on September 30, 2026.
2019 RTC Principles for Federal Surface Transportation Authorization