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
November 15, 2024
FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.
Lawmakers returned on Tuesday November 12 to kick off the "lame duck" session, as well as to begin organizing activities for the 119th Congress. Of note, House and Senate Republicans met Wednesday November 13 for leadership elections as the GOP looks to organize quickly ahead of next year to prioritize the confirmation process for Trump administration officials, as well as budget reconciliation. House Democrats currently plan to hold their leadership elections on Tuesday November 19. We'll also be watching to see if the President-elect issues new marching orders for Fiscal Year 2025 government funding — particularly if he encourages lawmakers to wrap up spending by the end of this year or pass another short-term continuing resolution (CR) into next year to give his new administration and the 119th Congress more leeway over current and future spending levels. Congress has until Dec. 20, 2024, to avoid a government shutdown.
FROM AUSTIN
89th Texas Legislature
The 89th Session of the Texas Legislature begins on January 14, 2025, but bill prefiling began on November 12, 2024. Over 1500 bills have already been filed at the close of this week and we are seeing a multitude of different transportation related pieces of legislation. Multiple bills centered around transportation funding and safety have been filed and we have seen two high-speed rail bills as well. See the highlighted bills section below for bills that we are tracking this session.
October Texas Transportation Commission
The Texas Transportation Commission convened on October 31, 2024, to address a series of key issues. The meeting began with the commission approving a range of contracts aimed at highway construction and maintenance. Following this, the commission approved the allocation of grant funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to support various aviation projects across Texas, promoting growth in the state's aviation sector. Additionally, the commission authorized the distribution of state infrastructure loans to qualified applicants, continuing to improve Texas infrastructure.
The commission also approved amendments related to rail facilities, focusing on design and regulations for oversized and overweight vehicles, as well as load specifications, aiming to improve the safety and efficiency of rail operations. A contentious case involving a Travis County developer was reviewed, resulting in the commission’s decision to disbar the developer from future contracts with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
The commission authorized a tolling agreement between TxDOT and the Harris County Toll Road Authority, as well as the initiation of eminent domain proceedings to secure land necessary for highway development.
Monitored Bills List
The Texas Legislature is currently in prefiling. If you need information on the bills being tacked, please contact Rebekah Gongora at rgongora@nctcog.org
- A table of state bills related to the RTC Legislative Program can be found here
- All state tracked bills can be found here
- No new actions on tracked Federal bills since September
HIGHLIGHTED BILLS – TEXAS LEGISLATURE
Funding and Revenue
- HB 542/HJR 58 Bucy - proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the use of money in the state highway fund for transit-oriented projects. Would add transit-oriented projects as an eligible use of the State Highway Fund.
- HB 1288 Landgraf - relating to discretionary funding decisions of the Texas Transportation Commission. Proposes to repeal the section of Transportation Code that limits the Commission’s discretionary funding decisions to no more than ten percent of the current biennial budget of TxDOT.
Safety
- HB 341 Morales - relating to a study by the Texas Department of Transportation on traffic collisions involving persons operating bicycles, electric bicycles, or motor-assisted scooters. Would require TTI and TxDOT to conduct the study by January 2027.
- HB 535 Lopez - relating to the operation of a motor vehicle passing a pedestrian or a person operating a bicycle in certain municipalities; creating a criminal offense. Would require a driver to move over three or six feet or into the next lane while passing a pedestrian or person riding a bike in a city with of population over 100,000.
Air Quality
- HB 464 Gonzalez - relating to the establishment of a grant program to support the elimination of illegally disposed of scrap tires. Would require TCEQ to develop a scrap tire remediation grant program.
High-Speed Rail
- HB 483 Bucy - relating to the use of state money for high-speed rail operated by a private entity and to the construction of certain high-speed rail. Would require TxDOT to enter into a CDA with a private entity to construct and operate high-speed rail connecting Dallas to Austin to San Antonio along the I-35 corridor.
- HB 663 Harrison - relating to limitations on the applicability of certain statutes to high-speed rail. Would prohibit a private entity from exercising the power of eminent domain for the purpose of developing or operating high-speed rail.
RECENT COMMITTEE HEARINGS
TEXAS HOUSE
Texas House Committee on Transportation
On October 10, 2024, the Texas House Committee on Transportation met to discuss various topics and the progress of multiple bills out of the last legislative session. Marc Williams kicked off the hearing talking about the record level funding of the 2025 UTP, Clear Lanes progress, and reigning in costs. Next, members of the private sector testified on the development of autonomous vehicle production in Texas and its critical use cases in areas like the Permian basin and for taxi services in urban sectors. Exciting projects like Advanced Air Mobility technology are also coming down the line and many cutting-edge businesses are eyeing Texas as their launching grounds. Texas' long term transportation funding shortfalls were highlighted, and committee members were concerned as to how Texas plans to address these needs in the future. Some highlighted bills from the hearing are shown below:
- HB 718: Relating to the issuance of certain tags, permits, and license plates authorizing the movement of vehicles and the transfer and renewal of certain license plates. Progress is being made with the implementation of metal temp tags on vehicles instead of paper. Stakeholders and operational entities are working together to streamline the process, and they remain hopeful that this bill will help prevent fraud in the future.
- HB 1885: Relating to the authority of the Texas Transportation Commission to establish variable speed limits. TxDOT has procured the equipment necessary to implement these new variable speed limit signs and is ready to place the first sign in the El Paso area by the end of October.
- HB 2170: Relating to toll collections by a toll project entity. TxDOT Chief Financial Officer testified that the department has fully implemented the provisions in the bill as of September 1, 2024.
- HB 3288: Relating to notice of transfer of a used motor vehicle. Information is being collected and databased at the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and is going smoothly. More information is to come on the progress of this project over the course of the next year.
- SB 505: Relating to imposing an additional fee for the registration of an electric vehicle. The State collected $49,000,000 of fees from EV users to help fund Texas highways. The management of the collection process is well handled under TxDOT and will continue to be done so in a productive manner.
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