Latest news with #Bill3879
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bills to kill Austin light rail project die again after missing key legislative deadlines
Two bills that would have sabotaged the city of Austin's multi-billion-dollar light rail project are presumed dead after missing key legislative deadlines. Senate Bill 2519, authored by Republican Sen. Paul Bettencourt of Houston, passed the Senate and a House committee earlier this month. However, the bill was not scheduled for a vote in the Texas House before Sunday's deadline. Similarly, House Bill 3879, filed by Austin-area Republican Rep. Ellen Troxclair, advanced out of committee but was never brought to the full House for a vote. Austin City Council Member Zo Qadri, who represents downtown Austin, said the defeat of the bills was good news and 'means a lot to the people of Austin.' 'With all due respect, if you don't represent Austin, you don't know Austin,' Qadri said in an interview Tuesday. Representatives for Troxclair and Bettencourt did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Council Member Vanessa Fuentes echoed Qadri's sentiments but said she remains cautiously optimistic. That's because the bill could resurface as an amendment to separate legislation that is still under consideration. "A lot can happen in these last few days of the Texas Legislature,' Fuentes told the American-Statesman. The session adjourns on June 2. Austin voters approved Project Connect in 2020 via an ongoing 20% increase to property taxes. Initially, the $7.1 billion plan included 27 miles of light rail along with smaller transportation projects. However, it has since been reduced to less than 10 miles of rail, even as its estimated cost has remained unchanged. The project has seen numerous legal and legislative challenges from critics who have seized on the significant downsizing — and the project's novel funding mechanism. Voters approved the creation of a local government corporation, the Austin Transit Partnership, to plan the project and take on debt to finance it. That debt is intended to be repaid through a transfer of property tax dollars approved by the Austin City Council. However, no debt has yet been issued as the city and the Transit Partnership face lawsuits from a group of local taxpayers and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who argue the financing model violates state law. The Transit Partnership declined to comment on Tuesday. 'The City continues to monitor all legislation and will comply with whatever is passed,' city of Austin spokesperson David Ochsner said in a written statement. This is not the first time Troxclair and Bettencourt attempted to derail the project. Troxclair, a conservative former Austin City Council member who has led the charge to kill Project Connect, filed a similar bill in 2023 that would have forced the city to get voter approval before issuing any debt for the project. It died on a last-minute technicality. The bill Troxclair filed this year also sought to give taxpayers another means to sue the city and halt the collection of property taxes if the scope of a project changes significantly after voter approval. The change in scope has been an issue in lawsuits filed on behalf of local taxpayers by attorneys Rick Fine and Bill Aleshire, a former Travis County tax collector and judge. In a Tuesday statement, Aleshire, Fine, and several plaintiffs involved in the ongoing lawsuits blamed House Speaker Dustin Burrows for the failure of the bills, stating they could not secure his 'blessing' and vowing to continue opposing the advancement of the transit project. 'We hope that the abuse those bills addressed does not happen to other communities in Texas,' the statement said. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bills to kill Austin light rail project die — again
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Austin Rep. Ellen Troxclair files another bill to kill Project Connect
Austin-area Republican Rep. Ellen Troxclair has again filed legislation that would derail the city's multi-billion dollar light-rail plan, known as Project Connect. House Bill 3879, filed Wednesday, is similar to legislation Troxclair filed in 2023 that came close to passing but was successfully targeted by Democrats on a technicality. Her latest bill would prevent local governments and local government corporations from using money raised through tax rate elections to repay future bond debt and also allow taxpayers to sue to stop future tax collection if the scope of a project changes significantly after initial voter approval. 'This legislation aims to close two perceived loopholes in the law–that municipalities can use tax-rate elections to fund multi-billion dollar capital projects and that there are no limits on how much a project can change once voters have spoken,' Troxclair said in a news release Thursday announcing the legislation. Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, is expected to file the same version of the bill in the Senate, according to the news release. While the legislation would apply to all local governments and affiliated entities statewide, it would have particularly significant ramifications for Project Connect. That's because a local government corporation, the Austin Transit Partnership, is supposed to fund the project by issuing bonds that would have to be repaid through a tax transfer approved by City Council. ATP has not yet issued debt as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton – and a group of local taxpayers – are challenging the legality of the financing model in court. Neither the city nor ATP responded to a request for comment from the American-Statesman. Austin voters approved Project Connect in 2020 with an on-going increase of more than 20% in the city's maintenance and operations property tax rate. At the time, the project consisted of 28 miles of light rail and cost $7.1 billion, a total that included other smaller transit projects. Since then, it's been cut down to 9.8 miles of light rail but, according to ATP, still has the same price tag. 'If the mayor and city council want to put a bond in front of voters, they are more than welcome to,' Troxclair, a former Austin City Council member, said in the Thursday news release. 'I just doubt that voters would approve that, even in Austin.' This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin Rep. Ellen Troxclair files another bill to kill Project Connect
