| 1 | 1 | | By: Canales H.B. No. 4473 |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 7 | 7 | | AN ACT |
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| 8 | 8 | | relating to a study by the Texas Department of Transportation of the |
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| 9 | 9 | | construction and maintenance of certain county road systems in this |
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| 10 | 10 | | state. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 250, Transportation Code, is amended by |
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| 13 | 13 | | adding Section 250.003 to read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | Sec. 250.003. STUDY REGARDING COUNTY ROAD SYSTEMS. (a) The |
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| 15 | 15 | | department, in consultation with the Texas A&M Transportation |
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| 16 | 16 | | Institute, shall conduct a study of the construction and |
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| 17 | 17 | | maintenance of county roads and bridges under the five systems of |
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| 18 | 18 | | county road administration described by Chapter 251 and |
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| 19 | 19 | | Subchapters A, B, C, and D of Chapter 252. |
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| 20 | 20 | | (b) The study described by Subsection (a) shall: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) provide an inventory of what system of county road |
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| 22 | 22 | | administration each county in this state has adopted and the date on |
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| 23 | 23 | | which it was adopted; |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2) provide, for the 20 most populous counties in each |
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| 25 | 25 | | of the five systems of county road administration and after |
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| 26 | 26 | | adjusting for inflation: |
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| 27 | 27 | | (A) the average and median cost of the |
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| 28 | 28 | | construction and maintenance of county roads during the most recent |
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| 29 | 29 | | 25-year period or the period since the adoption of the county's |
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| 30 | 30 | | current system of county road administration; and |
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| 31 | 31 | | (B) an average per-mile cost comparison of |
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| 32 | 32 | | completed road projects among the five systems of county road |
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| 33 | 33 | | administration during the most recent 25-year period or the period |
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| 34 | 34 | | since the adoption of the county's current system of county road |
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| 35 | 35 | | administration; and |
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| 36 | 36 | | (3) rank from most economical to least economical for |
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| 37 | 37 | | taxpayers the systems of county road administration for the |
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| 38 | 38 | | construction and maintenance of county roads and describe the |
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| 39 | 39 | | reasoning behind each rank placement. |
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| 40 | 40 | | (c) Not later than December 1, 2026, the department shall |
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| 41 | 41 | | submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the |
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| 42 | 42 | | house, and each legislative committee with jurisdiction over |
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| 43 | 43 | | transportation issues a written report that includes the results of |
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| 44 | 44 | | the study conducted under this section and any associated |
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| 45 | 45 | | recommendations. |
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| 46 | 46 | | (d) This section expires January 1, 2027. |
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| 47 | 47 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 48 | 48 | | a vote of two-thirds of all members elected to each house, as |
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| 49 | 49 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 50 | 50 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 51 | 51 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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