CDAs could spoil the tidy three-day special session envisioned by Gov. Rick Perry and other leaders, after committees adjourned on Day One without acting to free certain Comprehensive Development Agreements from a moratorium that begins Aug. 31.
Without action, the state can't enter into new public-private partnerships on transportation projects. But it — and local governments — could continue on with partnerships that are already underway.
Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, whose SB 3 addresses this, predicts his chamber will not accept legislation unless the House approves language on primacy, non-compete clauses and buyback provisions.
"If they don't come over with those type of protections, my opinion is it will not even receive a vote," Nichols says.
Meanwhile, House Transportation Chair Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, thinks lawmakers on his side will be wary of approving Nichols' comprehensive bill before the weekend. Pickett adds that he personally likes the bill (he's carrying its twin in the House), but isn't sure members have the political will to pass it right now.
Pickett also filed an alternative bill, HB 4, which reauthorizes a short list of CDAs but does not include Nichols' provisions.
Primacy means that local authorities get first dibs on building road projects, and get to decide whether they want to participate with private firms in particular CDAs or not. They'd get the right of refusal before the state could step into a local project.
Nichols' bill would shorten non-compete clauses (which prohibit public authorities from building projects near CDAs that would suck toll revenue from them), shortening the maximum duration of the agreements to 30 years (it's now 50 years).
The bill exempts interstate highways from non-compete clauses. It also lays out the process by which public entities can resume control over the roads if the CDAs don't work out like they expected.
Nichols says the bill has been in development since 2007 and is the product of input from a legislative study committee — and wasn't "quickly thrown together... over the weekend."
Nichols' bill incorporates language from two bills approved by the Senate during the regular session. Both died on the House Calendar when time ran out.
While there is general agreement that sunset agencies and $2 billion in road bonds merited a special session, the necessity of dealing with CDAs has been questioned by some, including Senate Finance chair Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, whose committee is hearing all three special session topics.
Senators told Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst that CDAs don't have wide support in that chamber. But Dewhurst says he's still trying to work a deal.
If lawmakers do not reach an agreement by Friday afternoon, they could recess over the weekend and come back to work Monday. More likely: Both chambers could call it Sine Die, leaving it up to the governor to call them back for another special session on CDAs or to let it rest.
Pickett doesn't think CDAs had the same level of urgency as the other special session topics, saying that two years is a long time in the transportation world, and that failure to pass the CDA legislation would probably not jeopardize any projects.
"I think that the two main issues were still the language for Proposition 12 bonds and the sunset dates for those agencies that were hanging out there," he says. "And I don't think many people at the beginning thought we would be doing comprehensive development plans."
—by a Texas Weekly correspondent