Issue Position: Transportation

Issue Position

Gov. Perry pioneered innovative infrastructure solutions for a rapidly growing state by promoting private investment. Transportation infrastructure is critical to the economy and quality of life of Texans. Under Gov. Perry, Texas has made dramatic strides to improve roads, railroads, airports, seaports and mass transit, ensuring Texans and the economy can keep moving forward.

* Local Control. Beginning in 2001, Gov. Perry supported, and the Texas Legislature approved, a series of road and rail financing tools to enable regions of the state to develop their own transportation solutions. Texas voters have since played a large role in approving transportation initiatives. In 2001, Texas voters approved constitutional amendments to create the Texas Mobility Fund and approve toll roads, and in later years approve railroad relocation and highway construction bonds. Gov. Perry has consistently supported decentralizing transportation decision-making by empowering Texas' regional leaders to decide how to best fund and build urban transportation systems and utilizing a variety of tools including Regional Mobility Authorities which allow local transportation implementation.

* Ending Budget Diversions. More than 1,000 people move to Texas everyday, making it increasingly important that we utilize all funding available to maintain our transportation infrastructure. Currently, billions of dollars are diverted from our state's transportation fund for other purposes. Gov. Perry supports ending these diversions and took Texas in the right direction by signing a budget for 2010-11 that ended more than $300 million in transportation diversions, putting them back to helping build and maintain roads.

* Help For New Roads. During the 81st Legislature's special session, legislation was passed authorizing and appropriating $2 billion of the Proposition 12 bonds authorized by voters in November 2007. While bonding can be an effective short-term solution for funding projects, Gov. Perry continues to pursue innovative, long-term transportation funding solutions for our state's perpetually growing transportation needs, which include ending budget diversions from the state's transportation fund and securing more dollars from Washington for roads -- for years, Washington has short-changed Texas taxpayers, returning only 70 cents of every dollar Texas sends to Washington for highway construction and maintenance.

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