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Lt. Gov. Dewhurst Pens Pointed Letter to TxDOT Official

By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com

Austin, TX –

Just when he thought it was safe to go back into the water, another shark attack for Texas Department of Transportation Chairman Ric Williamson.

The TxDOT chair's mail this week included a pointed letter from Lt. Governor David Dewhurst regarding TxDOT Executive Director Michael Behren's missive to district engineers and transportation groups announcing postponement of projects after the Texas Bond Review Board's delay of consideration of a billion dollar's worth of Texas Mobility Fund bonds.

Dewhurst was not amused.

"I agree with Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn's concern regarding the 'interest-only' structure of your bond proposal, which will cost taxpayers an additional $189 million over the life of the issuance. This concern obviously needs to be resolved before we approve new bonding authority."

The lieutenant governor took Williamson to the woodshed for "not following the Legislature's mandates" and for not being "forthcoming" with information sought by the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) and legislative committee members regarding bond issuance efforts.

Dewhurst points out in his letter to Williamson that state voters approved Proposition 14, a constitutional amendment which provides TxDOT with access to $3 billion today "in bonding authority and the ability to complete projects at a more rapid pace while not impacting the General Revenue Fund." He questioned why TxDOT has not announced any intention of using that source of funding.

"As a possible solution," writes Dewhurst to Williamson, "please send me a proposal which issues Proposition 14 bonds or Texas Mobility Fund bonds for the FY 2006-2007 biennium, and if you choose the latter, backed by the Motor Vehicle Inspection Fee revenues (estimated to be $83 million in FY 2006 and $87 million in FY 2007), while maintaining the Driver License Fees and Driver Record Information fees in General revenue for two more years to eliminate the $300 million negative impact to the current revenue estimate."

Dewhurst then laid out the welcome mat, telling Williamson he thinks it would be "positive" if "both you and Behrens would come to visit me immediately to resolve these concerns."