Testimonials
What People are Saying
“Leaders from all levels—public and private—must come together to ensure investments are spent wisely and mechanisms are in place for maintenance, rehabilitation, and inspections. Identifying collaborative opportunities across state and federal programs, offering corporate partnerships, and removing the red tape between public/private partnerships will increase exposure for funding opportunities.”
— American Society of Civil Engineers - Texas Section/ InfrastructureReportCard.org/Texas
“At a time when other states are embracing new and innovative project delivery methods such as public- private partnerships, Texas, once a leader in innovative project delivery, has turned its back on utilizing private investment in infrastructure in favor of more traditional methods, which by themselves are insufficient to meet the state’s needs. While P3s are not a cure-all, they should have a place in the state’s transportation plans because of their potential to relieve congestion in especially crowded areas and to harness the expertise of the private sector.”
“P3s have a track record of sound performance in Texas and elsewhere and offer some advantages over traditional transportation financing.With COVID reducing transportation funding sources by perhaps more than $900 million over the remainder of the current biennium compared to what the Comptroller projected in the January 2019 BRE, the Legislature should consider turning to private funds to ensure that Texas’s transportation infrastructure is able to accommodate the state’s economic growth and ever-growing population.”
— TEXAS CONSERVATIVE COALITION RESEARCH INSTITUTE
“One of the most promising innovations to emerge over the past decade is greater use of public-private partnerships (P3s) to complement traditional funding. When designed well, collaborating with the private sector can attract greater net investment, unlock new management efficiencies, and strike an ideal balance between protecting the public interest and generating private return on investment.”
— ANNIBEL RICE, RANJITHA SHIVARAM, AND ADIE TOMER, BROOKINGS
“Over time, highways have transformed the American way of life, and they remain essential to commerce and employment opportunities. Here is a synopsis or our position:
1. Alongside Texas' booming economic growth (due to its low taxes and fiscal discipline), its population is projected to grow from 29 million to 54 million people by 2050. (Texas Demographic Center projected in 2019)
2. Texas currently faces a $4.6 billion revenue shortfall for 2021. This is due to the combined impact of low oil and gas prices and the COVID-19 shutdown. (Texas Comptroller Statement, July 20, 2020)
3. Texas already faces too much congestion, particularly in critical areas of the state with current and long-term prospects for economic growth. The state needs to build for the present and the future.
4. P3s are the solution that would allow Texas to build needed infrastructure without increasing spending or raising taxes.
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.”
— MICHAEL BOWMAN, ALEC ACTION, TESTIMONY TO TEXAS HOUSE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE, SEPTEMBER 15, 2020.
“Allow for more private capital to be utilized to build infrastructure through comprehensive development agreements.”
— U OF H HOBBY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS/UT AUSTIN LBJ SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, PLAYBOOK FOR RESILIENCY
“Empowering the private sector to invest more in infrastructure opportunities will ensure that infrastructure investments appropriately align with consumers’ needs.”
— DAVID DITCH, NICOLAS LORIS, ADAM MICHEL AND KEVIN DAYARATNA, HERITAGE FOUNDATION
“Government and business leaders may not realize the amount of private capital that is out there. Over the past five years, infrastructure investment funds have raised more than $500 billion willing to invest in big-ticket infrastructure (such as the $7 billion rebuild of I-35 through downtown Austin if Texas were to allow the investment). Most of this money is being invested in Europe, Latin America, and Asia, because governments there welcome private investment. A decade ago, so did Texas, which led to over $8 billion invested in megaprojects like the LBJ and NTE express lanes projects in Dallas/Ft. Worth and the nearly-finished SH 288 express lanes in Houston. Since then, Texas has curtailed the use of private investment to improve roads and bridges.”
— Robert Poole, director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation, Rescuing Texas Transportation Infrastructure, April 2020.
“Public‐ private partnerships can impose commercial discipline into construction and maintenance of infrastructure, leading to timelier and less‐ costly delivery. P3s of this kind can deliver road infrastructure on time and within budget."
“The merging of state and private capital for infrastructure development has raised hundreds of billions of dollars for new projects across the US without the need for new broad state taxes. In Virginia alone, a state whose population has continued to increase in recent years, somewhat like Texas’, the state’s P3…[initiative]… has brought in more than 16,000 new jobs, injected more than $3.5 billion into the economy, and achieved an average investment rate of 7:1. Meaning that for each dollar of taxpayer money invested in infrastructure, about seven are realized from private investment. On a per-capita basis, were Texas to follow the learned best-practices of P3 implementation in Virginia, this could result in well over $15 billion in private capital investment for the Texas economy.”
— Cato Institute, Comments to the Texas Transportation Commission on the 2021 Unified Transportation Program, August 5, 2020
While county toll road and mobility authorities are useful innovations, Texas continues to pass up another key funding innovation that has been used in many states: public-private partnerships. The merging of state and private capital for infrastructure development has raised hundreds of billions of dollars for new projects across the US without the need for new broad state taxes…On a per-capita basis, were Texas to follow the learned best practices of P3 implementation in Virginia, this could result in well over $15 billion in private capital investment for the Texas economy.”
— Randal O’Toole, Cato Institute, Testimony to Texas House Transportation Committee, Additional Commentary, September 15, 2020
“In a [P3] contract, the private partner usually assumes the risk of time and cost overruns, creating strong incentives to deliver projects on-time and on-budget. Moreover, a [P3] with a maintenance provision ensures that the infrastructure will be properly maintained over its entire life cycle by including clear, enforceable penalties for deferring maintenance.”
— R. Richard Geddes, visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
“[P3] use helps address a set of problems that continue to plague America’s transportation system. Social benefits of [P3s] stem from five main qualities associated with increased private participation:
1. High-powered, focused incentives to innovate, to seek new revenue, and to better manage costs in a sector where high-powered incentives are socially beneficial;
2. Business acumen, knowledge, and experience sourced from a global market for infrastructure operators;
3. Additional capital and highly developed risk-bearing services through access to new debt and equity capital markets;
4. The utilization of a competitive contracting approach that enforces high-quality service and asset maintenance, and allows the discipline of competition to be harnessed for the public good; and
5. Large public investors, such as public pension funds, benefit from the long-life cycles offered by equity investment in road, airport, and energy projects. The cash flows generated by those projects also correspond well with the funds’ long-dated liabilities. More [P3s] are needed to effectuate those investment opportunities.”
— R. Richard Geddes, visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute