By: Ogden S.J.R. No. 18
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature
to permit the Texas Transportation Commission, subject to
legislative review and approval, to designate the area adjacent to
a state highway project as a transportation finance zone and
dedicating the proceeds of the state sales and use taxes imposed in
a transportation finance zone to the Texas Mobility Fund for
certain purposes.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 49-k, Article III, Texas Constitution,
is amended by adding Subsection (e-1) and amending Subsection (g)
to read as follows:
(e-1) The legislature by general law may authorize the
commission to designate as a transportation finance zone an area
defined by the general law that is adjacent to the right-of-way of
an existing or proposed state highway, if in connection with
construction, reconstruction, or expansion of the state highway,
including design and right-of-way acquisition costs, the
commission has issued and sold obligations or entered into credit
agreements under Subsection (d) of this section or proposes to
issue and sell obligations or enter into credit agreements under
Subsection (d) of this section. The designation of an area as a
transportation finance zone must be reviewed and approved by the
entity designated by the legislature in the general law before the
designation may take effect. In addition to other sources of
revenue, there is dedicated to the fund the proceeds of a state tax
that is established by general law and imposed on the sale of a
taxable item in this state or on the storage, use, or other
consumption in this state of a taxable item purchased from a
retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state, if
the sale or use is consummated within the boundaries of a
transportation finance zone. All proceeds from the taxes to which
this subsection applies that are collected within the boundaries of
a transportation finance zone may be deposited to the credit of a
separate account in the fund. Money collected within the
boundaries of a transportation finance zone and deposited to the
credit of the fund under this subsection may be used only for the
purpose of paying the principal of and interest on obligations
issued under Subsection (d) of this section or a related credit
agreement entered into under that subsection in connection with the
state highway that is located in that transportation finance zone.
The legislature may limit the amount of money the comptroller may
deposit to the credit of the fund in any state fiscal year under
this subsection.
(g) In addition to the dedication of specified sources or
amounts of revenue, taxes, or money as provided by Subsections
[Subsection] (e) and (e-1) of this section, the legislature may by
law authorize the commission to guarantee the payment of any
obligations and credit agreements issued and executed by the
commission under the authority of this section by pledging the full
faith and credit of the state to that payment if dedicated revenue
is insufficient for that purpose. If that authority is granted and
is implemented by the commission, while any of the bonds, notes,
other obligations, or credit agreements are outstanding and unpaid,
and for any fiscal year during which the dedicated revenue, taxes,
and money are insufficient to make all payments when due, there is
appropriated, and there shall be deposited in the fund, out of the
first money coming into the state treasury in each fiscal year that
is not otherwise appropriated by this constitution, an amount that
is sufficient to pay the principal of the obligations and
agreements and the interest on the obligations and agreements that
become due during that fiscal year, minus any amount in the fund
that is available for that payment in accordance with applicable
law.
SECTION 2. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 3, 2009.
The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
proposition: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the
legislature to permit the Texas Transportation Commission, subject
to legislative review and approval, to designate the area adjacent
to a state highway project as a transportation finance zone and
dedicating the proceeds of the state sales and use taxes imposed in
a transportation finance zone to the Texas Mobility Fund for
certain purposes."