“Texans shouldn't be forced to pay a tax for Rick Perry's arrogance in pushing a project that nobody wanted but Rick Perry.”

Corridor project may be dead, but spending thrives

10/7/09

By PEGGY FIKAC
Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
Copyright 2009

AUSTIN — Texas already has spent close to $60 million on the recommended-for-death parallel to Interstate 35 once envisioned as part of the Trans-Texas Corridor.

More money — perhaps millions more — will be spent as Texas closes the environmental review process and gets public comment on the recommendation to the federal government, state transportation officials said Wednesday.

The planning expenditures were not wasted because the state can use the information in the future, said Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton of El Paso.

Critics disagreed.

“Texans shouldn't be forced to pay a tax for Rick Perry's arrogance in pushing a project that nobody wanted but Rick Perry,” said Joe Pounder, spokesman for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is challenging Perry for the GOP nod for governor.

The $59.4 million in expenditures the Texas Transportation Commission reported to lawmakers at the end of fiscal 2008 went for planning, environmental reviews and engineering studies. The expense was part of $131 million spent on several segments. An updated total will be posted later this month.

The I-35 parallel was among the last vestiges of the once-ambitious Trans-Texas Corridor championed by Perry as a network of highways, rail lines and utility corridors that would crisscross Texas and relieve congestion. The idea relied heavily on public-private partnerships and tollways because highway tax dollars are falling far short of the need.

Opposition from groups and landowners prompted transportation officials earlier this year to drop the Trans-Texas Corridor name and declare they would scale back the network idea.

Texas 130 in Central Texas and the proposed Interstate 69 from Brownsville to Texarkana are its last remnants.

Democratic candidate for governor Hank Gilbert, noting January's announcement, said he suspected that the demise of the corridor has been slow because there are additional costs associated with it.

“Vampires die quicker than Rick Perry's transportation policy,” he said.

Perry and others have challenged critics to come up with an alternative, workable transportation plan. Hutchison and Gilbert have not disclosed plans; their campaigns say they will.

Activist Terri Hall of Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom is among those unconvinced the Trans-Texas Corridor is dead, noting lawmakers did not remove the idea from state law this year and pointing to the continuation of I-69.

“The Trans-Texas Corridor is not dead until Rick Perry is no longer governor of the state of Texas,” she said.

State officials said they remain committed to expanding I-35 to three lanes each way from Austin to Hillsboro.

Transportation officials largely blamed themselves for not properly marketing the TTC plan. Houghton, in a reference to the way the agency was portrayed by anti-corridor and anti-toll activists, as well as Hutchison, introduced himself at Wednesday's news conference this way: “I am Ted Houghton, the most arrogant commissioner of the most arrogant state agency in the history of the state of Texas.”

pfikac@express-news.net

© 2009 Houston Chronicle: www.chron.com

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"The eminent-domain project that has ignited statewide protest like no other is Gov. Rick Perry’s Trans-Texas Corridor."

Texans can restrain use of eminent domain

Related article: No Guarantees November Ballot Measure Will Prevent Kelo-style Takings

10/7/09

Editorial
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Copyright 2009

Few issues have roused Texans’ ire in recent years so much as government’s use of — or threat to use — eminent domain to take property for public or not-so-public use.

Tarrant County residents have been somewhat ahead of the rest of the state. Beginning in 1995, Hurst drew public scorn for forcing longtime residents to leave their homes near North East Mall so that the mall could expand.

Arlington has taken private property to build Rangers Ballpark and more recently wiped out neighborhoods for Cowboys Stadium. Fort Worth took private land to build Texas Motor Speedway.

But the eminent-domain project that has ignited statewide protest like no other is Gov. Rick Perry’s 2002 proposal to build the Trans-Texas Corridor. In fact, public revolt against the idea of the state taking hundreds of thousands of acres of farm and ranch land and replacing it with a huge foreign-owned tollway has now killed the Trans-Texas Corridor altogether.

No matter that any public entity that wants to take property by eminent domain must prove that it has the right to do so and that it has offered fair compensation to the property’s owner. No matter even if there is a compelling public interest in whatever it is that is to go on that property, a park or a street or anything else that will be owned and used by the public.

Texans have grown to hate eminent domain.

Small wonder, then, if Proposition 11 on the Nov. 3 ballot passes overwhelmingly. Proposition 11 would add wording to the Texas Constitution to severely restrict use of eminent domain.

Chiefly, public entities such as cities, counties and the state could no longer use their power of eminent domain to take private property for someone else’s private use, as Hurst did with the land near North East Mall. Eminent domain could no longer be used as a tool for economic development.

That change was spurred by a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case, Kelo v. City of New London (Connecticut), in which the court said eminent domain for economic development was OK. As was true in many other states, Texas lawmakers immediately passed a new law to say, "Not in our case, it’s not."

In part, Proposition 11 enshrines the provisions of that 2005 law in the state constitution. And in fact, the Texas Constitution could use some help in this area.

The constitution currently says simply that private property can’t be "taken, damaged or destroyed for or applied to public use without adequate compensation being made." It doesn’t define public use, and that’s a problem.

In Hurst’s case, tax revenue from the expanded mall appears to have qualified as a public use, as did the economic spinoff from Rangers Ballpark and Cowboys Stadium and Texas Motor Speedway in their respective cities.

Proposition 11 would require that any condemned property be held and used by a public entity for a legitimate public purpose.

It also would restrict cities’ ability to take and improve blighted property. Cities now can declare entire neighborhoods to be areas of blight; Proposition 11 would require that blight be proven on each individual property.

Finally, Proposition 11 would restrict the Legislature’s ability to award the power of eminent domain to any new entities. Doing so would require a two-thirds vote of each house, which is hard to accomplish.

There is no denying that Texans of late have been in a mood to restrict the use of eminent domain. With Proposition 11, that’s exactly what they would get.

The Star-Telegram Editorial Board recommends voting for Proposition 11.

© 2009 Fort Worth Star-Telegram: www.star-telegram.com

Related article: No Guarantees November Ballot Measure Will Prevent Kelo-style Takings

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"TxDOT can still continue to build 130, TTC-69, and Ports-to-Plains toll roads, but defeating TTC-35 is a major victory for rural people of Texas."

Mayors Defeat TTC-35 and TxDOT



10/7/09

Press Release
Contact: Mae Smith, President/Mayor, 254-657-2460
Eastern Central Texas Sub-Regional Planning Commission
Copyright 2009

Holland, Texas - Five local mayors took a stand 27 months ago and formed the state's first sub-regional planning commission to stand up against and stop once and for all the governor's massive land grab known as the Trans-Texas Corridor. No one thought they could.

Today, the Texas Department of Transportation and the governor announced that the State of Texas has officially killed the project by selecting the "No Build" option under the environmental impact statement study. Selecting that option was exactly what the Eastern Central Texas Sub-Regional Planning Commission (ECTSRPC) forced the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) into choosing.

"Believe me, it wasn't what they wanted to do, it's what we forced them to do," stated Mae Smith, Mayor of Holland and president of the ECTSRPC. The planning commission began a series of what is called coordination meetings in the fall of 2007, by utilizing a little known state statute that forced the behemoth agency to come to Holland, Texas.

TxDOT came to Holland on three different occasions where they were asked to explain why they were going to destroy five towns and their school districts with a 1,200 foot-wide, 146 acre per mile toll road. "Through coordination, we forced them to our table and then we used the federal NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) statute to box them in a legal corner out of which they could not escape," stated Ralph Snyder, a local Holland businessman and board member of the ECTSRPC. "That's what forced TxDOT to recommend 'No Build' to the Federal Highway Administration because we had shown how TxDOT, as the agent of the federal government, had violated the federal statute in at least 29 ways," Snyder continued.

Fred Grant, president of American Stewards of Liberty, is the originator of the coordination strategy that brought TxDOT to their knees. "Had we not had five courageous mayors who represent a total of 6,000 people stand up to the governor and his rogue state agency, the Trans-Texas Corridor would have destroyed hundreds of thousands of private acres of prime and unique farmland, as well as, the economies of every community it dissected," stated Grant.

The TTC-35 is just one of the 4,000 miles of toll roads that nine state planning commissions are fighting.

"TxDOT can still continue to build 130, TTC-69, and the Ports-to-Plains toll roads, but defeating the TTC-35 is a major victory for the rural people of Texas."

To obtain a copy of the petition filed by the ECTSRPC showing the federal violations of TxDOT, please contact American Stewards of Liberty at 512-365-2699.

© 2009 Texas 391 Commission Alliance: 391texas.blogspot.com

To search TTC News Archives click HERE

To view the Trans-Texas Corridor Blog click HERE

"While TxDOT is touting their arrogance, Texans don't think Rick Perry's record of wasting millions is anything to be proud of."

State takes steps to end Trans-Texas Corridor



10/7/09

By JAY ROOT
The Associated Press
Copyright 2009

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Department of Transportation is closing the books on the unpopular "Trans-Texas Corridor" project, which has already cost the state millions of dollars to gather up plans, hold public meetings and conduct environmental studies.

The $175 billion proposal to build a network of toll roads and rail lines, the brainchild of Gov. Rick Perry, has run into fierce opposition virtually since it was proposed in 2002. State officials told reporters Wednesday that the agency notified federal highway authorities this week to say it wants to halt what was to be the first leg of the project — along the heavily congested Interstate 35.

The department has already spent over $15 million on environmental studies and planning documents associated with the I-35 corridor, and the cost will go higher as the cancellation process grinds to a halt, officials said.

"We made it very clear that it would be some time before we could completely transition away from the TTC," department director Amadeo Saenz said. "We were and we still are in the middle of environmental studies and those issues have to run their course as we move forward."

TxDOT has already spent $12 million on the environmental review process for the I-35 corridor, which would have stretched from the Mexico border to the Oklahoma line. Costs associated with canceling a private contract to build the corridor have hit $3.5 million and could go up to about $4 million, Saenz said.

The costs will mount further in coming months as the department holds public meetings about the results of the environmental study, he said.

The agency said earlier this year that it was scaling down the project and dropping the name "Trans-Texas Corridor." Transportation officials acknowledged the plan had sparked an uproar among landowners, elected officials and people who live along the proposed routes.

Perry's Republican primary opponent, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, has been a vocal opponent of the corridor and calls TxDOT the "most arrogant" agency in state government.

At a news conference Wednesday, Transportation commissioner Ted Houghton — a Perry appointee — jokingly introduced himself as "the most arrogant commissioner of the most arrogant state agency in the history of the state of Texas."

That brought a sharp rebuke from the Hutchison campaign.

"The Trans-Texas Corridor will not be officially dead until Rick Perry is no longer governor and his political appointees are no longer running TxDOT," said Hutchison spokesman Joe Pounder. "While TxDOT is touting their arrogance, Texans don't think Rick Perry's record of wasting millions is anything to be proud of."

Perry spokesman Mark Miner complained that Hutchison had done too little to get federal highway funds for Texas while Perry pursues solutions to traffic gridlock.

Perry, speaking after an event in Brownsville on Wednesday, said "there's no asphalt fairy," but pledged to continue to look for ways to build new roads.

___

Associated Press Writer Christopher Sherman contributed to this report from Brownsville, Texas.


© 2009 The Associated Press: www.ap.org

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To view the Trans-Texas Corridor Blog click HERE

TTC-35 is dead (again) but TTC-69 lives on

Perry pulls plug on Trans Texas Corridor...but another lives on

10/6/09

Terri Hall
San Antonio Express-News
Copyright 2009

If you believe Rick Perry, today he's finally conceded the death of the initial Trans Texas Corridor foreign-owned toll road, land-grabbing superhighway that would have paralleled I-35, called TTC-35. However, there's LOTS more to this story.

Perry would have us believe the announcement was because of the lack of political support, but since when does he care a flip about whether his toll road policies have political support? Look no further than his veto of eminent domain reform legislation, HB 2006, and the private toll moratorium bill, HB 1892, passed by a supermajority of the Texas Legislature in 2007 for proof.

There's never been grassroots support for his hefty toll tax increases nor the Trans Texas Corridor. The REAL reason Perry's highway department, the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT), put the nail in the coffin of TTC-35 was because it was under the threat of a federal lawsuit by a local government commission, the Eastern Central Texas Sub-Regional Planning Commission, which was formed to stop TTC-35 dead in its tracks.

There's nothing that puts more fear in a politician up for re-election than a messy, well-publicized federal lawsuit against one of his most controversial, polarizing policies. So rather than risk certain death at the polls, Perry opted for the death of his beloved special interest TTC-35. Of course, the Texas Farm Bureau's endorsement of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison for governor played a role in the timing of the announcement.

Hutchison said in a statement today: "The Trans-Texas Corridor will not be officially dead until Rick Perry is no longer governor and his political appointees are no longer running TxDOT. Texans can't trust Rick Perry when it comes to protecting their land from the government, ceding to lease our highways to foreign companies or ending the Trans-Texas Corridor."

I couldn't agree more.

Trans Texas Corridor #2 still alive & well

To demonstrate the point that Texas isn't safe from Perry's policies until he's kicked out of office, the Trans Texas Corridor plan #2, known as TTC-69/I-69 in the hands of Spanish company ACS, is still on the table.

"Officials said that project (69), which unlike the I-35 plan would mainly involve expanding existing highways, remains alive," according to the Austin American Statesman on October 6, 2009.

When over 28,000 Texans went on the record AGAINST TTC-69, it goes to show Perry's same ol' stubborn indifference to the people of Texas in regards to the Trans Texas Corridor.

He throws the public a bone over here (saying the "TTC-35 is dead") in order to distract from an equally controversial debacle over there (TTC-69) that threatens to damage the environment, private property rights, and the economic prosperity of thousands of Texans.

Bottom line: Texans can't trust Rick Perry to keep his word or to truly KILL his destructive, detested toll road agenda. The only sure way to keep Texas safe is to give Perry the boot!

© 2009 San Antonio Express-News: mysanantonio.com

To search TTC News Archives click HERE

To view the Trans-Texas Corridor Blog click HERE

"The move comes on the heels of the Texas Farm Bureau's decision to endorse U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison over Perry."

TxDOT issues 'kill shot' to Trans Texas Corridor

10/6/09

By PEGGY FIKAC AUSTIN BUREAU
Houston Chronicle
Copyright 2009

AUSTIN – State transportation officials, who earlier this year declared the Trans-Texas Corridor dead at least in name, plan to stick a fork in the lingering Interstate 35 section of the proposal Wednesday.

Texas Department of Transportation officials said that in response to comments from citizens during the environmental review of Trans-Texas Corridor-35, the agency would end efforts to develop it “through the Trans-Texas Corridor concept.”

The highway was envisioned as a congestion-relieving parallel to I-35 between Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio.

GOP Gov. Rick Perry had championed the Trans-Texas Corridor, an ambitious highway network proposal including public-private partnerships and tollways. It was meant to address a transportation system whose revenues are not keeping up with needs.

An outcry from landowners and others, however, prompted the transportation agency earlier this year to say it would scale back the network concept and drop the name. The I-35 proposal was a lingering project.

As part of the decision, the Associated Press reported that the development contract with a private company was being terminated. Spain-based Cintra and Zachry Construction Corp. of San Antonio had the development contract to develop projects. A Zachry spokeswoman did not immediately return a telephone call for comment.

Agency officials said they will detail the “path forward” Wednesday. The agency is overseen by the Perry-appointed Texas Transportation Commission.

The move comes on the heels of the Texas Farm Bureau's decision to endorse U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison over Perry in the race for the GOP nod for governor. The Trans-Texas Corridor is a key area on which Perry split with the bureau.

The transportation agency emphasized the reason for the original Trans-Texas Corridor concept in a statement today.

“Interstate 35 has long been recognized as one of the state's most congested highways, delaying travel for motorists and freight. The TTC concept was introduced in 2001 as a strategy to address congestion,” said the agency's statement.

pfikac@express-news.net

© 2009 Houston Chronicle: www.chron.com

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"It’s clear that this announcement is all for show, and as was reported just today, Rick Perry still supports the TTC."

Hutchison Campaign Statement On Rick Perry’s Trans-Texas Corridor

October 06, 2009

Texans for Kay Bailey Hutchison
Copyright 2009

Austin, TX – In another election-driven, hyper-political move, Rick Perry’s Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is claiming that they will officially kill the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC), which would have required the government to seize nearly 600,000 acres of private land and leased our highways to a foreign company.

However, this is not the first time TxDOT – the most arrogant agency in state government – has said they killed the TTC. It’s clear that this announcement is all for show, and as was reported just today, Rick Perry still supports the TTC.

Statement from the Hutchison campaign:

“The Trans-Texas Corridor will not be officially dead until Rick Perry is no longer governor and his political appointees are no longer running TxDOT. Texans can’t trust Rick Perry when it comes to protecting their land from the government, ceasing to lease our highways to foreign companies or ending the Trans-Texas Corridor,” – Joe Pounder, Deputy Communications Director

Rick Perry And TxDOT Have Previously Misled Voters When They Claimed The Trans-Texas Corridor No Longer Existed:

The Houston Chronicle Just Today Reported That “Perry Continues To Support The Concept” Of The TTC. “Hutchison, in appearances with Dierschke, attacked Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor proposal and promised to kill it if elected. Transportation officials have halted specific projects, but Perry continues to support the concept.” (R.G. Ratcliffe, “Endorsement Of Hutchison Could Be Costly,” The Houston Chronicle, 10/6/09)

• The Last Time TxDOT Claimed The TTC Was Dead, Rick Perry Said It Was Just A Name Change. “Gov. Rick Perry, talking from Iraq to reporters, suggested that the Texas Department of Transportation's decision to pull the plug on one of his biggest initiatives -- the Trans Texas Corridor -- was mostly a name change, and that public-private partnerships on toll roads would continue. ‘The name “Trans Texas Corridor” is over with. We're going to continue to build roads in the state of Texas,’ Perry said. He said toll roads will continue to play a major role in highway planning because there are limited ways to get infrastructure funding.” (Christy Hoppe, “Perry: TxDOT Killed Trans Texas Corridor Name, Not Initiative,” The Dallas Morning News, 1/6/09)

• NBC DFW: “The Texas Department Of Transportation Said The [Trans Texas-Corridor] Is Dead, But Perry Told Reporters It's Alive And Well.” “The TTC was a multi-billion dollar plan to build toll roads, rail lines and highways across Texas. The TTC was also a hot button issue with conservative voters, many opposing the project for various reason. The Texas Department of Transportation said the project is dead, but Perry told reporters it's alive and well, but the project's name has changed.” (Omar Villafranca, “Hutchison Pressing Hot Button Issue In Latest Jab At Perry,” NBC DFW, www.nbcdfw.com, 8/13/09)

Rick Perry Has A Record Of Broken Promises On Private Property Rights Having Previously Promised To Support A 2007 Eminent Domain Reform Bill Only To Veto It. “The Farm Bureau gave a lukewarm endorsement to Perry in his 2006 re-election campaign, saying he generally had been good for agriculture, but the group was upset with his support of the Trans-Texas Corridor highway proposal that would have taken thousands of acres of farmland. The split with the group widened in 2007 when Perry vetoed eminent domain legislation to limit the taking of private property. Farm Bureau President Kenneth Dierschke said Perry had promised the bureau the eminent domain bill would pass and then vetoed it. ‘We expect, if Rick wins, we will have to pay. But we are paying as we go forward now. We've endorsed him in the last two elections, and we haven't seen any positive movement from Rick,’ Dierschke said.” (R.G. Ratcliffe, “Endorsement Of Hutchison Could Be Costly,” The Houston Chronicle, 10/6/09)

© 2009 Texans for Kay: www.texans.forkay.com

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To view the Trans-Texas Corridor Blog click HERE

“The Trans-Texas Corridor will not be officially dead until Rick Perry is no longer governor and his political appointees are no longer running TxDOT"

TxDOT: I-35 toll twin 'officially dead'

10/6/09

By Ben Wear
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2009|

The tollroad twin to Interstate 35, once the centerpiece of Gov. Rick Perry’s Trans-Texas Corridor plan, is officially dead, the Texas Department of Transportation announced today.

The department, which has spent years on a huge environmental study of the corridor from Dallas to San Antonio, will officially recommend to the Federal Highway Administration that no action be taken on the road.

“I don’t think I have ever seen a no-build recommendation in a TxDOT environmental impact study,” state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said in a statement. “It says a lot about today’s Transportation Commission and their responsiveness to the public.”

The environmental study had been in limbo for more than three years after TxDOT had unveiled a 4,000-page draft version with great fanfare at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

A final version of that environmental plan, which narrowed the possible path of the road down to a 10-mile-wide corridor, was expected to come out a year or so later. Smaller studies on individual road segments were to follow. But that final environmental statement remained an unfinished product until now, albeit with a different and unexpected conclusion: do nothing.

“… (P)eople don’t want it,” Texas Transportation Commission member Bill Meadows told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which first reported the no-build decision. “They said, ‘Hell no.’ “

Perry’s corridor plan, already under fire when the draft plan came out in April 2006, soon thereafter became an issue in the 2006 governor’s race as his political opponents and many rural Texans showed up to speak against the proposed road at 54 hearings up and down the corridor. Then, in early 2007, a majority of the Texas Legislature rebelled against the centerpiece of Perry’s corridor plan: the state issuing long-term leases to private companies to build and operate tollroads.

In January, TxDOT killed the Trans-Texas Corridor name and concept, but the only two projects from it lived on: the I-35 twin and Interstate 69, which would be a tollway from the Rio Grande Valley to Texarkana.

Officials said that project, which unlike the I-35 plan would mainly involve expanding existing highways, remains alive.

But the I-35 plan, given the lack of support legislatively and in rural Texas, was no longer politically viable, a TxDOT official said. That was underscored by an announcement this week that the Texas Farm Bureau, which for several years has opposed the Trans-Texas Corridor plan because it would require acquiring considerable farmland, is endorsing U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Perry’s opponent in the March gubernatorial primary. The group, despite opposing the corridor plan, had endorsed Perry in the 2006 campaign.

Today’s action, which officials say was in process well before the farm bureau announcement, will have no effect on that group’s decision, a spokesman said.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but those statutes are still on the books,” said Gene Hall of the Farm Bureau, referring to law authorizing the Trans-Texas Corridor. The group will stick with Hutchison, he said.

“It was a unanmous vote of the board of directors,” Hall said. “It wasn’t really a hard decision to make. (Perry’s) overalll private property rights record is mostly rhetoric, and we don’t think it’s a good one at all.”

Joe Pounder, a Hutchison spokesman, said “The Trans-Texas Corridor will not be officially dead until Rick Perry is no longer governor and his political appointees are no longer running TxDOT.”

Perry’s office, asked for comment, has not yet responded today.

In January, TxDOT said it had spent $131 million on planning and environmental work for the Trans-Texas Corridor.

The I-35 project seemed to be on the road to reality in December 2004 when Gov. Perry appeared at a Texas Transportation Commission meeting for the announcement that Cintra-Zachry, a consortium led by a Spanish toll road company, would be paid $3.5 million to create a plan for tollroads, rail lines and other facilities for the entire corridor.

If things went as planned, officials said that day, Cintra-Zachry would eventually pay the state $1.2 billion for the right to build more than 300 miles of toll roads, spending another $6 billion of its own money in the process.

Cintra-Zachry produced the plan, and is now building the southern 40 miles of Texas 130, which along with the existing piece of Texas 130 built and operated by TxDOT, likely would have been the southern section of the I-35 corridor road. Now, both roads likely will remain simply Texas 130.

© 2009 Austin American-Statesman: www.statesman.com

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To view the Trans-Texas Corridor Blog click HERE

"Until Perry is out of office, the idea for the Corridor will continue to pop back up."

Trans-Texas Corridor 'Nixed'




© 2009 KXAN: www.kxan.com

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To view the Trans-Texas Corridor Blog click HERE

Texas eminent domain amendment “only gets us halfway”

Compensation issue still dogs needed reform of eminent domain law

10/6/09

EDITORIAL
Waco Tribune-Herald
Copyright 2009

The Texas Farm Bureau on Monday endorsed U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for governor for what the Waco-based organization says is a host of good reasons, the foremost involving property rights, specifically the ever-thorny issue of eminent domain.

Voters might well have assumed this issue had been put to bed — or will be once they vote on a constitutional amendment next month prohibiting government officials from condemning property and then allotting it to private developers. But Gene Hall, public information officer of the Texas Farm Bureau, says the amendment “only gets us halfway” to where Texas property owners really want to be.

Missed opportunity

Among other things, the Texas Farm Bureau wants the state to approve guarantees establishing fair compensation for land taken for other projects, including compensation for any and all access to public roads and highways that might be eliminated or constrained through eminent domain.

We had high hopes the Legislature might address this in more comprehensive fashion last spring, but other matters intruded, and now the issue threatens to overshadow the GOP gubernatorial slugfest between Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry when other matters rate our attention.

Yes, the Texas Farm Bureau, which looks out for the interests of farmers and ranchers, outlined several reasons for its endorsement at the Waco ranch of Claude and Becky Lindsey, including Hutchison’s stand against taxes and health care reform — the latter one reason Hutchison says she has yet to resign the Senate for this campaign. Yet Perry’s record has been equally strong on those fronts.

However, the governor’s strong advocacy of the Trans-Texas Corridor earlier this decade has only intensified fears about the use and possible abuse of eminent domain in making the ambitious highway system a reality. This has since become an issue that critics allege highlights Perry’s opposition to eminent domain reforms or, at the very least, his flagging support for such measures.

Perry backers dismiss this, noting he strongly advocates the constitutional amendment. But the Texas Farm Bureau hasn’t forgotten his veto of reforms in 2007, no doubt prompting the farm bureau board’s unanimous decision to jilt its former ally.

The fact this issue could dominate the GOP primary election is, again, a testament to the failure of state lawmakers to fully debate this complicated issue just a few months ago. Now we face the reality of heading to the polls in November to vote on an issue that we believe has yet to be truly resolved. Maybe after it further divides the Texas Republican Party, we’ll be ready to forge a reasonable resolution of the matter.

© 2009 Waco Tribune-Herald: www.kxan.com

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To view the Trans-Texas Corridor Blog click HERE

"I'm afraid the name of Trans-Texas Corridor has gone away but I think there's still a push for basically a 'Trans-Texas Corridor.' "

Trans-Texas Corridor drives emotions in governor's race

10/6/09

By: Bonnie Gonzalez
News 8 Austin
Copyright 2009

The announcement comes after the Texas Farm Bureau revealed its endorsement of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

The Texas Department of Transportation announced plans Tuesday for dropping the Trans-Texas Corridor.

Farmers and ranchers led the charge in the fight against the project. They felt the super highway project would swallow up their farmland through eminent domain.

The announcement to drop the project comes just one day after the Texas Farm Bureau revealed its endorsement for Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

"Eminent domain, we feel, has gotten a little too loose in that they're able to take a person's property," McGregor farmer Rodney Schmalriede said.

Their decision to protect those rights has prompted the bureau to support Hutchinson in the gubernatorial race against incumbent Gov. Rick Perry.

"Gov. Perry's veto of eminent domain in 2007 has not set well with the farmers and ranchers of the state," Texas Farm Bureau spokesperson Gene Hall said.

Perry said Tuesday the project was pulled because they heard Texans loud and clear.

"The plug has been pulled for some time. The final decision-making process, you know, Texans clearly said this isn't a project that we want to go forward and we listened," Perry said.

Hutchinson posted a response to the state's decision to pull the project on her Web site.

"The Trans-Texas Corridor will not be officially dead until Rick Perry is no longer governor and his political appointees are no longer running TxDOT. Texans can't trust Rick Perry when it comes to protecting their land from the government, ceasing to lease our highways for foreign companies or ending the Trans-Texas Corridor," Hutchison spokesman Joe Pounder said.

Perry said Tuesday the project was pulled because they heard Texans loud and clear.

Before TxDOT announcement Tuesday, Schmalriede shared a similar outlook.

"I'm afraid the name of Trans-Texas Corridor has gone away but I think there's still a push for basically a 'Trans-Texas Corridor,'" Schmalriede said.

Similar fear among farmers and ranchers will keep them on edge and the issue of the Trans-Texas Corridor alive in the Republican primary race.


© 2009 News 8 Austin: www.news8austin.com

To search TTC News Archives click HERE

To view the Trans-Texas Corridor Blog click HERE

"What we basically are doing is we are terminating the process. "

Final nail in Trans Texas Corridor's coffin

10/6/09

Gordon Dickson
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Copyright 2009

The Texas Department of Transportation is once and for all pulling the plug on the Trans Texas Corridor, the controversial plan to build toll roads and utility lines across the state, an official said.

"The reason that's being given for the no-build option is that people don't want it," Texas Transportation Commission member Bill Meadows of Fort Worth said Tuesday in a phone interview. "They said 'Hell no.' "

The Trans Texas Corridor was originally pitched as an innovative way to pay for congestion improvements, and reduce truck and train gridlock in metro areas. But opponents seized upon several hotly contested components of the plan, including the impact of tolls on Texans' pocketbooks, the infusion of foreign influence in toll investment and the taking of such a massive amount of private property necessary to build the roads.

Earlier this year, state officials announced the Trans Texas Corridor was essentially dead, in large part because of public outrage and a backlash from state legislators who felt the transportation department had overstepped its bounds. But despite that announcement, the planning process for the Trans Texas Corridor continued behind the scenes. A consortium led by Cintra of Madrid, Spain and Zachry Construction of San Antonio had prepared a master plan, and a detailed environmental study of the TTC-35 corridor between Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio was underway.

Well, on Wednesday, Texas Department of Transportation officials plan to hold a news conference in Austin to announce that they've selected the "no build" option for the TTC-35 Corridor, which formally brings an end to the project, Meadows said. "What we basically are doing is we are terminating the process. It's the no-build option," he said. "Formally, absolutely, TTC-35 is dead. We are canceling the contract with Zachry."

© 2009 Fort Worth Star-Telegram: www.startelegram.typepad.com

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Rick Perry: "Untrustworthy when it comes to property rights."

Sen. Hutchison receives Texas Farm Bureau endorsement in primary battle with Gov. Perry

10/6/09

By Michael W. Shapiro
Waco Tribune-Herald
Copyright 2009

The Waco-based Texas Farm Bureau threw its weight behind U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, endorsing her Monday in the Republican primary for governor and snubbing Gov. Rick Perry, who won his previous two gubernatorial campaigns with the group’s backing.

At a morning announcement at Claude and Becky Lindsey’s horse farm in the Steinbeck Bend area, farm bureau officials praised Hutchison for her support of private property rights.

Farm bureau spokesman Gene Hall also criticized Perry, calling him untrustworthy when it comes to property rights.

Specifically, Hall said the farm bureau didn’t like Perry’s efforts to create the Trans-Texas Corridor, a combined highway, railway and utility easement paralleling Interstate 35.

“The corridor was just a monumental land grab in our view,” Hall said, adding that it would have led to the seizure of “half a million acres of property and some of the best farmland in the country.”

Hutchison stressed her commitment to limiting the use of eminent domain in Texas and also promised to put the corridor to rest.

“When I take the oath of office as governor of texas, Trans-Texas Corridor will really be dead,” she said.

Perry said in January that the Trans-Texas Corridor’s name was dead, though he said he still was open to entering public-private partnerships and building toll roads as a way to finance highway construction.

At Monday’s event, Hutchison said she would pay for the state’s transportation needs in light of revenue shortfalls by improving efficiency at the Texas Department of Transportation.

“Actually, the amount of federal dollars and state dollars that have come into our highways in the last 10 years has been enormous, but the producing (of) actual highway miles has been very low,” she said.

A history of support

The decision to endorse Hutchison wasn’t made lightly given the farm bureau’s long histories with both candidates, said McLennan County farm bureau president Mark Scott, who introduced Hutchison on Monday.

The farm bureau endorsed Perry in four statewide races, starting with his successful bid in 1990 to unseat Jim Hightower as agriculture commissioner.

Though the group got behind Democrat John Sharp in his losing effort against Perry for lieutenant governor in 1998, farm bureau leaders backed Perry in his most recent campaigns for governor in 2002 and 2006.

The farm bureau also has endorsed Hutchison numerous times.

Hutchison won the post of state treasurer in 1990 with the group’s backing. The farm bureau would go on to endorse her in her subsequent Senate races.

Impact on the race

The farm bureau endorsement has long been a prize for Texas politicians.

“As endorsements go, that’s a good one,” Baylor University political science professor Thomas Myers said.

Myers said the GOP primary will turn on the quality of the campaigns more than endorsements, but he said, “The farm bureau has lots of contacts and a reputable voice in Texas.”

With the group’s backing in 1994, George W. Bush defeated incumbent Democratic incumbent Ann Richards in the governor’s race.

The farm bureau also has regularly endorsed U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco.

Hall said the farm bureau represents 430,000 member families.

Perry responds

Perry’s campaign played down the endorsement’s significance, saying it amounted to a thank-you from the farm bureau, which operates an insurance company, for Hutchison’s vote last year to bail out the country’s financial and insurance industries.

“It’s not a surprise at all that an insurance company that supported the bailout would support someone who voted for the bailout,” Perry campaign spokesman Mark Miner said.

Hall said that allegation is “nonsense.”

“The company owned by the farm bureau . . . didn’t get a dime from the bailout,” he said, adding that the endorsement is “about trust, it’s about eminent domain, and it’s about property rights.”

Hutchison and farm bureau officials spent the day drumming up press coverage for the endorsement. Events in Lubbock, Fort Worth and Austin followed the Waco announcement.

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

757-5707

© 2009 Waco Tribune-Herald: www.wacotrib.com.net

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Hegar to be new Chair of Sunset Advisory Commission

Lt. Governor Appoints Hegar Chair Of Sunset Advisory Commission

10/6/09

by John Pape
FortBendNow
Copyright 2009

Lt. Governor David Dewhurst today appointed State Sen. Glenn Hegar (R-Katy) as Chairman of the state’s powerful Sunset Advisory Commission.

As chairman, Hegar will lead the commission in its task of eliminating wasteful government spending and ending inefficient practices.

The committee’s ultimate goal is to develop an improved set of government agencies, which save taxpayers money and remain responsive to residents.

Hegar previously served as vice-chair of the commission. That appointment made Texas history, marking the first time that a freshman member of the Texas Legislature was appointed to a leadership position of the powerful board.

During his tenure as vice-chair, Hegar championed reforms to modernize state agencies and sponsored legislation to reduce bureaucracy. He also supported efforts to abolish the controversial Texas Residential Construction Commission and fought tirelessly against the Trans-Texas Corridor.

In making the announcement of Hegar’s appointment, Dewhurst cited the senator’s work as vice-chair.

“I am confident that Sen. Hegar will provide strong leadership on the Sunset Advisory Commission,” Dewhurst said. “His tireless efforts and in-depth analysis of the issues will once again be an asset as the commission undertakes the review of some of our most important state agencies.”

Hegar said he was “honored” to be appointed and was looking forward to continuing to serve on the commission.

“The Sunset Advisory Commission is one of the most important and powerful bodies on which a Texas Legislator can serve. The review of state agencies helps to ensure that our tax dollars are not wasted by duplicative efforts or inefficiency,” Hegar said. “As chairman, I pledge to expand upon the progress the commission has made so far. And, more importantly, I pledge my wholehearted dedication to the commission’s mission of serving Texans and ensuring government accountability.”

The Sunset Advisory Commission conducts thorough reviews of nearly all state agencies, gathering information from the agency itself, members of the public, interest groups and professional organizations. Each review is a three- to eight-month process.

After conducting the review, the Sunset Advisory Commission determines whether the agency is needed; those that are found to be duplicative or no longer needed are abolished after a one year “wind-down” period.

More typically, a final report is issued detailing recommended changes to the agency. The report is then used to develop legislation to implement the recommended changes in how the agency performs its mission.

During a typical legislative session, 20 to 30 state agencies are reviewed; most agencies are reviewed on a twelve-year cycle. The next legislative session will be a particularly important one for the Sunset Advisory Commission, as the Texas Public Utility Commission, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Railroad Commission, the Texas Department of Transportation, as well as the Texas Department of Insurance and the Division of Workers’ Compensation are all set for sunset review.

The commission consists of twelve members. Six – five senators and one public member – are selected by the Lieutenant Governor. Six others – five state representatives and one public member – are picked by the Speaker of the House.

In addition to Hegar, the Sunset Advisory Commission membership consists of Senators Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen), Joan Huffman (R-Houston), Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville), and John Whitmire (D-Houston), as well as public member Charles McMahen.

The Speaker of the House is scheduled to appoint members from the House of Representatives in the near future.

The Sunset Advisory Commission is estimated to have saved the state more than $736 million from 1982 to 2003.

© 2009 FortBendNow: www.fortbendnow.com

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Texas Farm Bureau on non-endorsement of Rick Perry: "Damned if we do. Damned if we don't"

Endorsement of Hutchison could be costly

10/5/09

By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Houston Chronicle
Copyright 2009

AUSTIN — The Texas Farm Bureau bucked the trend of lobby groups lining up behind Gov. Rick Perry on Monday as it endorsed U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for governor. But the Farm Bureau also may have exposed itself to political payback.

Just ask Kimble D. Ross.

Ross was the registered lobbyist for the Texas Medical Association for 16 years. But he offended the governor in 2002 by persuading his organization to endorse Democrat Tony Sanchez after Perry vetoed a bill to require insurance companies to promptly pay doctors for services — legislation that had passed almost without dissent.

Lobbyist resigned

After Perry won, his aides made clear to the medical association that its agenda stood little chance if Ross remained as its lobbyist. Ross resigned and now works for medical groups in other states.

“It's beyond straight-up political punishment,” Ross said recently. “It gets to a level of once you are out, you're out.”

The scenario played again recently when Perry aides sought the resignation of Texas Tech regents he had appointed but who had thrown their support to Hutchison in the Republican gubernatorial primary fight.

The Farm Bureau gave a lukewarm endorsement to Perry in his 2006 re-election campaign, saying he generally had been good for agriculture, but the group was upset with his support of the Trans-Texas Corridor highway proposal that would have taken thousands of acres of farmland. The split with the group widened in 2007 when Perry vetoed eminent domain legislation to limit the taking of private property.

‘We will have to pay'

Farm Bureau President Kenneth Dierschke said Perry had promised the bureau the eminent domain bill would pass and then vetoed it.

“We expect, if Rick wins, we will have to pay. But we are paying as we go forward now. We've endorsed him in the last two elections, and we haven't seen any positive movement from Rick,” Dierschke said.

Dierschke said the Farm Bureau has supported Hutchison since she won her first statewide race as treasurer in 1990, the same year it supported Perry in his first victory as agriculture commissioner. He said Hutchison is a politician farmers can trust.

Hutchison, in appearances with Dierschke, attacked Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor proposal and promised to kill it if elected. Transportation officials have halted specific projects, but Perry continues to support the concept.

The Farm Bureau has more than 420,000 members and offices across rural Texas. The bureau represents farmers before the Legislature, but also sells insurance for members.

It is not the first time the bureau has broken with Perry. The bureau backed Democrat John Sharp over Perry in the 1998 lieu- tenant governor's race, citing Perry's support for home equity lending legislation. Perry supporters in the bureau wrote letters to other members questioning the leadership's position.
‘Friendly incumbent'

But Perry has been lining up numerous lobby groups and trade associations to back his re-election, ranging from the Texas Association of Realtors to the Texas Chemical Council, which represents refineries along the Gulf Coast.

Hector Rivero, president of the Texas Chemical Council, said Perry has been good at developing a business climate in Texas. He called Perry a “friendly incumbent” and Hutchison a “great senator,” but said the council's endorsement is based on Perry's record.

“This wasn't about picking favorites, but honoring and respecting a leader who has been friendly to business,” Rivero said.

rg.ratcliffe@chron.com

© 2009 Houston Chronicle: www.chron.com

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Texas Farm Bureau: No more bull from Rick Perry

Farm Bureau Endorsement Based On Trust

Bum Steer

10/5/09

Shelley Kofler
KERA
Copyright 2009

DALLAS, TX The Texas Farm Bureau's political action committee is backing Kay Bailey Hutchison over Rick Perry for Governor. KERA's Shelley Kofler says the heavy-weight endorsement is part payback for Perry not protecting rural property rights.

Collin County Farmer Charles Ray Huddleston says the Farm Bureau's support Kay Bailey Hutchison came down to one big thing: trust.

Huddleston: We trust Kay Bailey Hutchison period. She has lead on agriculture and private property issues.

Implied is that many Farm Bureau leaders don't trust Rick Perry, a former rancher who also served as Texas Agriculture Commissioner. The Farm Bureau's Gene Hall says the big break with Perry came two years ago when Perry vetoed an eminent domain bill. Hall says that left ranchers with little hope of getting a fair price for their property when it's condemned for public use.

Hall: After telling the Farm Bureau board of directors he would support eminent domain reform the governor vetoed that legislation. That means a condemning entity -and there are thousands- can come out and low ball you and your property. Then if you don't think it's enough you have to incur all the costs and take it to court.

Hutchison for her part has hammered Perry for another initiative that sticks in the Farm Bureau's craw. The Trans-Texas Corridor, the statewide network of highways and infrastructure that would have cut through many family farms.

Hutchison: If I am governor I will dismantle the Trans-Texas Corridor and the strategy that every road in Texas should be a toll road.

The Perry campaign's Mark Miner responded by saying Perry signed eminent domain reform bills this year and in 2005. Miner claims the Farm Bureau is really supporting Hutchison because it sells insurance and Hutchison voted for federal stimulus money for the financial industry. The Farm Bureau's Hall calls that ludicrous and says the bill Perry vetoed was the one that offered real financial protection for property owners.

© 2009 KERA: www.publicbroadcasting.net

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"We've been very disappointed with his property rights performance."

Hutchison gets Texas Farm Bureau endorsement

10/5/09

By KELLEY SHANNON
Associated Press
Copyright 2009

Citing concerns about private property rights, the Texas Farm Bureau endorsed U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for governor Monday, abandoning Gov. Rick Perry.

The farm bureau endorsed Perry in his previous two runs for governor, but has been at odds with the Republican incumbent over what the bureau says is his lack of action in curbing abuses of eminent domain and protecting private property rights. Farmers have vocally opposed Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor toll road network that threatens to take farm and ranch land.

"Sen. Hutchison has been a leader in the U.S. Senate on agriculture and property rights issues," said Kenneth Dierschke, president of the Texas Farm Bureau. "For the future of Texas, we call for new leadership, new ideas and a new vision."

He also praised Hutchison for supporting the elimination of the estate tax and the deductibility of the state sales tax on federal income tax returns.

Perry's spokesman, Mark Miner, dismissed the farm bureau endorsement as "political payback" for Hutchison because the bureau operates an insurance business and Hutchison voted for the bailout a year ago of the financial and insurance industry.

"I think it's a major reason" for the endorsement, Miner said. "It's very clear the governor has been a strong advocate for property rights."

Farm bureau spokesman Gene Hall said the bureau's affiliated companies offer insurance, "but those companies have not received one dime in bailout money."

Miner is demonstrating "an astonishing lack of understanding of what the Texas Farm Bureau is," Hall said, noting that when Perry received farm bureau endorsements, he welcomed them.

Miner later said he was not suggesting the farm bureau benefited financially but just pointing out it had supported the bailout. The group said in October 2008 it supported the federal bill because it would bring stability to the financial markets and some of its provisions would help farmers and ranchers.

"We're not surprised that an insurance company who supported the bailout would endorse somebody who voted for it," said Miner, who has criticized Hutchison for voting for the bill. She opposed later federal stimulus spending bills.

Hutchison campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Baker wouldn't comment on Miner's bailout remark, other than to say Perry is "out of touch and arrogant" and he advocates "abusive" eminent domain policies.

Hutchison and Perry are squaring off in a rough and expensive Republican primary in March. Both candidates have been trying to make the property rights issue their own.

With the Texas Farm Bureau endorsement, Hutchison gets the backing of a group that has 421,000 members and offices and activists in more than 200 counties.

Perry has been rolling out a long list of endorsements of his own, including the Texas Association of Realtors and the Texas Chemical Council, two major trade industry groups. He's also backed by social conservative groups, such as Texas Right to Life.

Hutchison has long criticized the Trans-Texas Corridor and says she opposes toll roads unless local officials and voters agree to them. In her official campaign launch in August, she called Perry's corridor proposal the biggest land grab in Texas history.

"There is nothing about it that's right," Hutchison said Monday. "I will end the Trans-Texas Corridor and the strategy of tolling every highway in Texas."

Perry proposed the $175 billion network of toll roads and high-speed rail in 2002. It ran into opposition, particularly in rural areas, for the private land it would take and because of secrecy surrounding a contract the state agreed to with a Spanish company. Perry's transportation officials have since scaled back the plan considerably and ditched the name Trans-Texas Corridor. But two large segments of the proposal are still in the planning stages.

The farm bureau said its endorsement of Hutchison came down to its trust in her. Hall noted Perry vetoed a 2007 bill backed by the farm bureau that addressed eminent domain and said he didn't provide the leadership the bureau was looking for in this year's session and special session.

"We've been very disappointed with his property rights performance," Hall said.

Perry, meanwhile, supports a proposed constitutional amendment on the November election ballot that he says will protect landowners from eminent domain abuses. He even went to the Alamo to ceremonially sign the proposal, which would prohibit government officials from taking property and giving it to a private developer to boost the tax base.

"The governor is going to be vigorously campaigning for passage of the constitutional amendment," Miner said.

© 2009 Dallas Morning News: www.dallasnews.com

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