Lawmakers reworking toll bill again

Federal officials have yanked one of the legs from Gov. Rick Perry's argument on why a controversial transportation bill sent to his office shouldn't become law, but he's still pushing for other fixes.

Perry said Wednesday that HB 1892 could jeopardize federal highway funding in Texas and also hurt efforts to build toll roads, the Houston Chronicle reported. See blog entry on the state's case.

But in a letter dated the same day, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the bill can be consistent with federal law if interpreted and implemented correctly.

Peters was responding to a letter from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who was flustered over an earlier Federal Highway Administration letter that said there could be conflicts.

Nevertheless, Perry says there are other problems with the bill, and legislators are now working to fix them. Lawmakers might do it by amending HB 1892's companion in the Senate, SB 792.

Changes could include adding a process for local entities to lay claim to state highway rights of way, fiddling with timelines for local entities to bid on tollway concession contracts, relaxing restrictions on where and how up front concession payments can be spent and resetting contract limits to 50 years but not the 70 in existing law.

Perry said he's not worried about the bill's two-year moratorium on toll concessions. Many projects ready to go are exempted anyway, but not a proposed 47-mile tollway in San Antonio.

"I'll sign the moratorium bill tomorrow," he told reporters. "This is not about a moratorium."

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