INVEST TEXAS COUNCIL TO URGE SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

austin.jpg

State’s Infrastructure Needs, Economy Will Require Legislature to Embrace Innovative Solutions

AUSTIN, TEXAS—A group of prominent business leaders and former public officials today launched the Invest Texas Council (ITC) – a new policy-oriented collaborative focused on advocating for public-private partnerships across all sectors of the Texas economy.

“Private investment and innovation will allow Texas to keep pace with our future infrastructure needs,” said former State Representative Ron Simmons, who will lead ITC.  “The Invest Texas Council will be a strong voice for utilizing private investment to build and operate the growing list of highway, water and other critical infrastructure projects needed to support the state’s economic future and help keep the tax burden low in our great state.” 

The Invest Texas Council will be advised by a board of business and public sector leaders and former members of the Texas Legislature including:

  • Former State Senators Florence Shapiro (Plano) and Kip Averitt (Waco);

  • Former House Transportation Chairman and State Representative Joe Pickett (El Paso) and former State Representatives, Cindy Burkett (Garland), Bill Keffer (Dallas) and Stefani Carter (Dallas);

  • Former Transportation Commissioners David Laney (Dallas), Jeff Austin III (Tyler), Ned Holmes (Houston) and John W. “Johnny” Johnson (Houston);

  • Commissioner Wes Hoskins, Port of Corpus Christi (Corpus Christi);

  • Former Water Development Board Chairman Carlos Rubinstein (Austin); and

  • Former Public Utility Commissioner Brandy Marquez (Austin).

Public-private partnerships bring private capital to finance roads and bridges, airports, ports, water and other infrastructure projects. Former Texas Transportation Commissioner Jeff Austin, an ITC Advisory Board member, explained: “Public-private partnerships are a common-sense approach to public finance that have unfortunately fallen into disuse. Without a champion, Texas will continue to lose out on vast amounts of private capital available to finance large-scale infrastructure projects.”

A multi-billion dollar budget shortfall is expected when the Texas Legislature convenes in January 2021 – a deficit attributed by officials to the collapse of energy prices and the impact of the pandemic on the state’s economy.  That shortfall makes it imperative that Texas  consider public-private partnerships for major infrastructure projects of all kinds. 

A joint report by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, highlights opportunities to spur post-shutdown growth and recommended public-private partnerships.  The report, A Playbook for Resiliency: Creating Opportunity for All Texans, includes a specific recommendation to “[a]llow for more private capital to be utilized to build infrastructure through comprehensive development agreements (CDAs).”[1]

“Private capital should be used as a tool to work for Texas taxpayers,” said Simmons.  “Given the COVID-forced economic shutdown and the projected loss of critical state revenues, public-private partnerships can free up revenue for lowering property taxes for families, provide funding for education and supporting the state’s ongoing healthcare response for future generations.”  

In testimony to the House Transportation Committee, the nationally respected American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) wrote: “P3s improve operational efficiency and environmental performance; promote public safety; attract private investment; minimize governmental liabilities; and allow necessary funding for other critical projects to be completed on time.”[2]

The Invest Texas Council is issuing the call for private investment in water, transportation, ports, airports, and other infrastructure as an imperative to the future economic success of Texas. Private sector capital will accelerate much-needed infrastructure construction – shifting the risks of projects to the private sector and driving investment into Texas’ roads and waterways. 

Texas dominated the American Transportation Research Institute’s 2020 Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks with 11 highway interchanges throughout Houston, Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth making the list, the most of any state.[3] And, in the latest Infrastructure Report Card, Texas was awarded a C-minus overall, a D in the Highways and Roads category, and grades of D for drinking water and D+ for dams, flood control, and wastewater infrastructure.[4]

The Invest Texas Council believes Texas is reaching a critical “make or break” moment and will be forced to grapple with demands for new roadways and water projects while simultaneously facing a budget shortfall for at least the next biennium.

“The public-private partnership model is a sensible approach to financing many infrastructure projects, especially when the state will have to sustain existing services and address additional COVID-19 related expenses, all while continuing it’s smart fiscal policy of low taxes,” added Simmons, who served on the House Appropriations Committee and was the Sub Committee Chairman on Long Term Infrastructure Planning

[1]A Playbook for Resiliency: Creating Opportunity for All Texans, https://urbanlab.lbj.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/Playbook_for_Resiliency_FINAL_051320.pdf

[2] Michael Bowman, ALEC Action, Testimony to Texas House Transportation Committee, September 15, 2020.

[3] American Transportation Research Institute, https://truckingresearch.org/2020/02/18/2020-top-truck-bottlenecks/

[4] 2017 Report Card for Texas’ Infrastructure, https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/FullReport-TX_2017_web.pdf

Evan Walker