Government Affairs Update

Senate Bill 882, which revises the NTTA’s enabling statute, became law this week. The new law authored by Sen. John Carona and sponsored by Rep. Charlie Geren was unanimously approved in both the Senate and House during the 81st Texas Legislature. For a copy of SB 882, please go to the News Center page of the NTTA’s Web site, www.ntta.org.

The features of the NTTA’s SB 882 that have become law are:

- giving the NTTA all toll collection and enforcement powers held by the Texas Department of Transportation and other toll authorities throughout the state;
- design/build stipend-setting flexibility for projects over $50 million;
- correcting a typographical error in the NTTA’s comprehensive development agreement authority; and
- repealing the incomplete “gift” provisions drawn from the Penal Code and inapplicable to any other entity.

The NTTA thanks the Dallas/Fort Worth legislative delegation, as well as leadership across the state, for their efforts to improve mobility for the citizens of Texas.  We look forward to working with the NTTA’s member counties, and other local, state and federal officials during the interim as we shift our focus to the development of the NTTA’s legislative goals for the 82nd Texas Legislature in 2011 and federal transportation legislation in Washington.

For more information on the NTTA’s legislative initiatives, please contact the NTTA’s Assistant Director of Government Affairs, Carrie Rogers, at (214) 224-2269 or crogers@ntta.org.