Vote NO to Constitutional Amendment No. 1

Submitted by Thomas L. Korkmas

Constitutional Amendment No. 1, The constitutional amendment creating the Texas rail relocation and improvement fund and authorizing grants of money and issuance of obligations for financing the relocation, rehabilitation, and expansion of rail facilities.

This Amendment goes far beyond what the above ballot wording indicates. The text of H.J.R. No. 54 (Amendment No. 1) specifically mentions "financing the relocation and improvement of privately and publicly owned passenger and freight rail facilities…" The text goes on to mention four specific purposes: relieving congestion on public highways; enhancing public safety; improving air quality; or expanding economic opportunity.

It is important to note that there are no publicly owned railroads in the State of Texas except those operated by regional transportation authorities, so the question becomes: Why is there nothing prohibiting these funds from being spent to relocate, or add, the miles of railroad track necessary to facilitate the Trans-Texas Corridor, a hundreds of millions dollar project.
Nor is there anything in Amendment 1 that prohibits state funds from being used to expand, relocate or improve any of the Houston METRO, Dallas DART rail lines or future regional transportation districts. Are we being asked to pay for infrastructure improvements and maintenance to make other funds available to make up the deficits of the transportation districts? In fact, It is entirely permissible to use these funds to finance a privately owned scenic railroad or a future railroad taking patrons from a city to an island casino.

While it might be nice to eliminate rail lines running through the downtown areas, there is nothing specific in H.J.R. No. 54 stating such purpose. Please read this for yourself by going to http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/ and looking at the full text BEFORE you vote.