By: Simmons, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Nichols) H.B. No. 20
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 4, 2015;
May 5, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
Transportation; May 18, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0;
May 18, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 20 By: Nichols
COMMITTEE VOTE
YeaNayAbsentPNV
NicholsX
HuffinesX
EllisX
FraserX
GarciaX
HallX
HancockX
KolkhorstX
TaylorofCollinX
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operations of and transportation planning and
expenditures by the Texas Department of Transportation and planning
organizations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 201.809, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsections (e) through (i) to read as follows:
(e) The commission by rule shall develop and implement a
performance-based planning and programming process dedicated to
providing the executive and legislative branches of government with
indicators that quantify and qualify progress toward attaining all
department goals and objectives established by the legislature and
the commission.
(f) The commission by rule shall develop and implement
performance metrics and performance measures as part of:
(1) the review of strategic planning in the statewide
transportation plan, rural transportation plans, and unified
transportation program;
(2) the evaluation of decision-making on projects
selected for funding in the unified transportation program and
statewide transportation improvement program; and
(3) the evaluation of project delivery for projects in
the department's letting schedule.
(g) The commission by rule shall adopt and shall
periodically review performance metrics and measures to:
(1) assess how well the transportation system is
performing and operating;
(2) provide the department, legislature,
stakeholders, and public with information to support decisions in a
manner that is accessible and understandable to the public;
(3) assess the effectiveness and efficiency of
transportation projects and service;
(4) demonstrate transparency and accountability; and
(5) address other issues the commission considers
necessary.
(h) The requirement for the commission to develop and
implement a performance-based planning and programming process
does not replace or alter the requirement of the commission or
department to comply with the budgetary performance measures for
each biennium as established in the General Appropriations Act. The
commission may not rely on the satisfaction of the requirement to
report budgetary performance measures as satisfying the
requirements imposed under this section.
(i) The commission shall develop and implement periodic
reporting schedules for all performance metrics and measures
required under this section.
SECTION 2. Subchapter P, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 201.9901 to read as follows:
Sec. 201.9901. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Planning organization" means:
(A) a metropolitan planning organization; or
(B) for an area that is not within the boundaries
of a metropolitan planning organization, the department district
that serves the area.
(2) "Project" means a connectivity or new capacity
roadway project in the region of a planning organization. The term
does not include a safety project, bridge project, federal
discretionary project, maintenance project, or preservation
project.
(3) "Region" means the area for which a planning
organization develops plans under this subchapter.
(4) "Transportation official" means an official in a
political subdivision who has responsibility for planning and
implementation of transportation projects.
SECTION 3. Subchapter P, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 201.9911 to read as follows:
Sec. 201.9911. PLANNING ORGANIZATION 10-YEAR PLAN. (a)
Each planning organization shall develop a 10-year transportation
plan for the use of the funding allocated to the region. The
department shall assist the planning organizations by providing in
a timely manner such information as is reasonably requested by the
planning organizations.
(b) The first four years of the plan shall be developed to
meet the transportation improvement plan requirements of 23 U.S.C.
Section 134 or 135, as applicable.
(c) For an area that is not within the boundaries of a
metropolitan planning organization, the department district shall
develop the 10-year transportation plan with input from municipal
and county elected officials and transportation officials in the
region.
SECTION 4. Subchapter P, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Sections 201.9932 and 201.9991 to read as
follows:
Sec. 201.9932. PROJECT RECOMMENDATION CRITERIA. Each
planning organization shall develop its own project recommendation
criteria, which must include consideration of:
(1) projected improvements to congestion and safety;
(2) projected effects on economic development
opportunities for residents of the region;
(3) available funding;
(4) effects on the environment, including air quality;
(5) socioeconomic effects, including
disproportionately high and adverse health or environmental
effects on minority or low-income neighborhoods; and
(6) any other factors deemed appropriate by the
planning organization.
Sec. 201.9991. PRIORITIZATION AND APPROVAL OF PROJECTS BY
COMMISSION. (a) The commission by rule shall prioritize and
approve projects included in the statewide transportation plan
under Section 201.601 in order to provide financial assistance
under this chapter.
(b) The commission by rule shall establish a
performance-based process for setting funding levels for the
categories of projects in the department's unified transportation
program.
(c) The commission by rule shall establish a scoring system
for prioritizing projects for which financial assistance is sought
from the commission by planning organizations. The criteria used to
score projects must take into consideration the department's
strategic goals as approved by the commission. The system must
account for the diverse needs of the state so as to fairly allocate
funding to all regions of the state.
(d) The commission may make discretionary funding decisions
for no more than 10 percent of the current biennial budget of the
department.
SECTION 5. Section 223.241, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
(3) "Highway project" means:
(A) a single highway facility between two defined
points in a corridor; or
(B) two or more contiguous highway facilities.
SECTION 6. Section 223.242, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsections (b-1), (f), and (g) and amending Subsections
(d) and (d-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) A design-build contract under this subchapter may
include a maintenance agreement requiring a design-build
contractor to maintain a project for an initial term of not longer
than five years. The maintenance agreement may authorize the
department, in its sole discretion, to exercise options extending
the term of the maintenance agreement for additional periods beyond
the initial maintenance term with each additional period being not
longer than five years. The department shall obtain pricing for the
maintenance work for each maintenance term. The department may
require separate pricing for the maintenance work to be performed
for each year of a maintenance term.
(d) The department may enter into a design-build contract
for a highway project with a construction cost estimate of $250
[$50] million or more to the department.
(d-1) The department may not enter into more than three
contracts under this section in each fiscal year[. This subsection
expires August 31, 2015].
(f) The department shall not use the design-build method for
the construction, expansion, extension, rehabilitation,
alteration, or repair of a highway project if the project is
substantially designed by the department or another entity other
than the design-build contractor.
(g) The department shall not include more than one highway
project in a design-build contract.
SECTION 7. (a) In this section:
(1) "Commission" means the Texas Transportation
Commission.
(2) "Department" means the Texas Department of
Transportation.
(b) Not later than the earlier of 30 days after the
effective date of this Act or September 1, 2015:
(1) the speaker of the house of representatives shall
appoint nine members to a House Select Committee on Transportation
Planning and designate one member as chair; and
(2) the lieutenant governor shall appoint five members
to a Senate Select Committee on Transportation Planning and
designate one member as chair.
(b-1) In making appointments under Subsection (b) of this
section, the speaker and the lieutenant governor should consider
members that reflect diverse constituencies with respect to:
(1) geographic areas in the state;
(2) urban and rural areas; and
(3) ethnicity.
(c) The committees established under this section may meet
separately at the call of the chair of the committee or jointly at
the call of both chairs. In joint meetings, the chairs shall act as
joint chairs.
(d) The committees established under this section, meeting
separately or jointly, shall review, study, and evaluate:
(1) department projections regarding the revenue
needed by the department to maintain current maintenance,
congestion, and connectivity conditions;
(2) the development of funding categories, the
allocation of funding to such categories by formula, project
selection authority for each funding category, and the development
of project selection criteria for commission, department, and
district-selected projects;
(3) department rules and policies regarding the
development and implementation of performance-based scoring and
decision making for project prioritization and selection of
commission, department, and district-selected projects;
(4) the use and utilization of alternative methods of
financing that have been authorized by the legislature for
projects;
(5) performance metrics and measurement tools used by
the department to evaluate the performance of a department project
or program;
(6) the department's collaboration with state elected
officials, local governments, government trade associations,
metropolitan planning organizations, regional mobility
authorities, and other entities when adopting rules or formulating
policies;
(7) any proposed rule, policy, program, or plan of the
commission or department of statewide significance;
(8) any possible benefits of utilizing zero-based
budgeting principles; and
(9) any other matter the committee considers
appropriate.
(e) Following consideration of the factors described by
Subsection (d) of this section, the committees shall prepare a
written report on the reviewed subjects and shall, not later than
November 1, 2016, provide to the legislature the report.
(f) The committees established under this section may
exercise any power of a committee of their respective chambers and
any powers of a joint committee. For the purposes of this section,
the committees established under this section are considered a
joint committee and the cost of operation of each committee may be
borne in the same manner as the cost of a joint committee. The Texas
Legislative Council shall provide funding for the operations of the
committees. To the extent not inconsistent with this section, the
joint rules adopted by the 84th Legislature for the administration
of joint interim legislative study committees apply to the
committees established under this section.
(g) Not later than December 1, 2015, the department shall
submit an initial report to the select committees. The report shall
provide information necessary for the select committees to review,
study, and evaluate the factors described by Subsections (d)(1),
(2), and (3) of this section. Not later than May 31, 2016, the
department shall submit to the select committees a preliminary
report on the remaining factors described by Subsection (d) of this
section.
(h) This section expires January 9, 2017.
SECTION 8. (a) Section 223.242(b-1), Transportation Code,
as added by this Act, applies only to a contract entered into on or
after the effective date of this Act. A contract entered into
before that date is governed by the law as it existed on the date the
contract was entered into, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
(b) Sections 223.242(f) and (g), Transportation Code, as
added by this Act, apply only to a highway project for which a
request for qualifications is issued on or after the effective date
of this Act. A highway project for which a request for
qualifications is issued before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the request for
qualifications was issued, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect August 31, 2015.
* * * * *