A bill by Texas state Senator Paul Bettencourt to use money from Harris County toll roads to help the City of Houston has failed in the state legislature, but the senator says it drove home the point.
Senate Bill 2722 wasn't able to pass despite getting all the way through Senate votes and into the Texas House of Representatives. It never made it to a vote there, though, in the final days of the legislative session, which was over June 2nd.
"These type of bills are very difficult to pass, because you have to convince both chairmen of the Transportation committees that the bills are good public policy, Sen. Bettencourt told Newsradio 740 KTRH.
Yet there's no denying the viability or even the importance of the bill, which would have allowed the Harris County Toll Road Authority to share the money it takes in from tolls with the City of Houston.
"There actually are expenditures that the city incurs, basically clearing the tolls roads from wrecks and other problems," Sen. Bettencourt points out.
And while there's always a possibility the bill could be submitted in the legislature again during the next session that begins in January 2027, the Senator continues to hear about the bill even though the legislature is no longer in session because it made a good point.
Houston is facing a budget shortfall. The bill would have funneled more money to the city's basic services.
And the Harris County Toll Road Authority takes in well over a billion dollars per year in toll road money and fees, with some of that money evenly distributed to county precincts even though some precincts have more upkeep needs than others.
"That bill had an impact even if it didn't pass basically because it's made the problem too hard to ignore," he adds.