Texas Public Policy Foundation’s David Guenthner Discusses Transporation Funding In Texas Legislative Special Session [AUDIO]

On the Tuesday edition of The Chad Hasty Show, David Guenthner from the Texas Public Policy Foundation talked with Chad Hasty about the latest coming out of Austin.

With the special session of the Texas legislature well underway, Governor Rick Perry decided to introduce an additional matter into the session: transportation funding. Guenthner said that, compared to the original matter of redistricting, the transportation funding issue is much more open-ended and that there is a variety of measures the legislature can use for funding.

"Unlike the first item on the call of the special session, which was very, very specific: the ratification of the court drawn redistricting maps that were used in the 2012 election, this one is pretty open-ended. And what you have is a lot of different ways they could go. They could increase debt, they could increase taxes and fees, they could do century bonds...so it's going to be interesting to see what the level of mechanism is to address the transportation funding issue."

Guenthner said he would prefer to see a reform of the Texas Department of Transportation before the legislature starts hunting for funds to pay for transportation. However, he added that with only 15 days left in the special session, the chances of anything being done on transportation funding are quite low.

As for redistricting, the field hearings are still ongoing in both the Senate and the House. However, the voting could get started as early as tomorrow in the Senate and as early as next week in the House.

For more information on the Texas Public Policy Foundation, visit their website at texaspolicy.com. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter: @TPPF.