By: Simmons, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Nichols)	H.B. No. 20
	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 4, 2015;
	May 5, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
	Transportation; May 18, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable
	Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0;
	May 18, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 20	By:  Nichols

	COMMITTEE VOTE
	YeaNayAbsentPNV
	NicholsX
	HuffinesX
	EllisX
	FraserX
	GarciaX
	HallX
	HancockX
	KolkhorstX
	TaylorofCollinX
	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the operations of and transportation planning and
	expenditures by the Texas Department of Transportation and planning
	organizations.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 201.809, Transportation Code, is amended
	by adding Subsections (e) through (i) to read as follows:
	(e)  The commission by rule shall develop and implement a
	performance-based planning and programming process dedicated to
	providing the executive and legislative branches of government with
	indicators that quantify and qualify progress toward attaining all
	department goals and objectives established by the legislature and
	the commission.
	(f)  The commission by rule shall develop and implement
	performance metrics and performance measures as part of:
	(1)  the review of strategic planning in the statewide
	transportation plan, rural transportation plans, and unified
	transportation program;
	(2)  the evaluation of decision-making on projects
	selected for funding in the unified transportation program and
	statewide transportation improvement program; and
	(3)  the evaluation of project delivery for projects in
	the department's letting schedule.
	(g)  The commission by rule shall adopt and shall
	periodically review performance metrics and measures to:
	(1)  assess how well the transportation system is
	performing and operating;
	(2)  provide the department, legislature,
	stakeholders, and public with information to support decisions in a
	manner that is accessible and understandable to the public;
	(3)  assess the effectiveness and efficiency of
	transportation projects and service;
	(4)  demonstrate transparency and accountability; and
	(5)  address other issues the commission considers
	necessary.
	(h)  The requirement for the commission to develop and
	implement a performance-based planning and programming process
	does not replace or alter the requirement of the commission or
	department to comply with the budgetary performance measures for
	each biennium as established in the General Appropriations Act. The
	commission may not rely on the satisfaction of the requirement to
	report budgetary performance measures as satisfying the
	requirements imposed under this section.
	(i)  The commission shall develop and implement periodic
	reporting schedules for all performance metrics and measures
	required under this section.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter P, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
	is amended by adding Section 201.9901 to read as follows:
	Sec. 201.9901.  DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
	(1)  "Planning organization" means:
	(A)  a metropolitan planning organization; or
	(B)  for an area that is not within the boundaries
	of a metropolitan planning organization, the department district
	that serves the area.
	(2)  "Project" means a connectivity or new capacity
	roadway project in the region of a planning organization. The term
	does not include a safety project, bridge project, federal
	discretionary project, maintenance project, or preservation
	project.
	(3)  "Region" means the area for which a planning
	organization develops plans under this subchapter.
	(4)  "Transportation official" means an official in a
	political subdivision who has responsibility for planning and
	implementation of transportation projects.
	SECTION 3.  Subchapter P, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
	is amended by adding Section 201.9911 to read as follows:
	Sec. 201.9911.  PLANNING ORGANIZATION 10-YEAR PLAN. (a)
	Each planning organization shall develop a 10-year transportation
	plan for the use of the funding allocated to the region. The
	department shall assist the planning organizations by providing in
	a timely manner such information as is reasonably requested by the
	planning organizations.
	(b)  The first four years of the plan shall be developed to
	meet the transportation improvement plan requirements of 23 U.S.C.
	Section 134 or 135, as applicable.
	(c)  For an area that is not within the boundaries of a
	metropolitan planning organization, the department district shall
	develop the 10-year transportation plan with input from municipal
	and county elected officials and transportation officials in the
	region.
	SECTION 4.  Subchapter P, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
	is amended by adding Sections 201.9932 and 201.9991 to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 201.9932.  PROJECT RECOMMENDATION CRITERIA. Each
	planning organization shall develop its own project recommendation
	criteria, which must include consideration of:
	(1)  projected improvements to congestion and safety;
	(2)  projected effects on economic development
	opportunities for residents of the region;
	(3)  available funding;
	(4)  effects on the environment, including air quality;
	(5)  socioeconomic effects, including
	disproportionately high and adverse health or environmental
	effects on minority or low-income neighborhoods; and
	(6)  any other factors deemed appropriate by the
	planning organization.
	Sec. 201.9991.  PRIORITIZATION AND APPROVAL OF PROJECTS BY
	COMMISSION. (a) The commission by rule shall prioritize and
	approve projects included in the statewide transportation plan
	under Section 201.601 in order to provide financial assistance
	under this chapter.
	(b)  The commission by rule shall establish a
	performance-based process for setting funding levels for the
	categories of projects in the department's unified transportation
	program.
	(c)  The commission by rule shall establish a scoring system
	for prioritizing projects for which financial assistance is sought
	from the commission by planning organizations. The criteria used to
	score projects must take into consideration the department's
	strategic goals as approved by the commission. The system must
	account for the diverse needs of the state so as to fairly allocate
	funding to all regions of the state.
	(d)  The commission may make discretionary funding decisions
	for no more than 10 percent of the current biennial budget of the
	department.
	SECTION 5.  Section 223.241, Transportation Code, is amended
	by adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
	(3)  "Highway project" means:
	(A)  a single highway facility between two defined
	points in a corridor; or
	(B)  two or more contiguous highway facilities.
	SECTION 6.  Section 223.242, Transportation Code, is amended
	by adding Subsections (b-1), (f), and (g) and amending Subsections
	(d) and (d-1) to read as follows:
	(b-1)  A design-build contract under this subchapter may
	include a maintenance agreement requiring a design-build
	contractor to maintain a project for an initial term of not longer
	than five years. The maintenance agreement may authorize the
	department, in its sole discretion, to exercise options extending
	the term of the maintenance agreement for additional periods beyond
	the initial maintenance term with each additional period being not
	longer than five years. The department shall obtain pricing for the
	maintenance work for each maintenance term. The department may
	require separate pricing for the maintenance work to be performed
	for each year of a maintenance term.
	(d)  The department may enter into a design-build contract
	for a highway project with a construction cost estimate of $250
	[$50] million or more to the department.
	(d-1)  The department may not enter into more than three
	contracts under this section in each fiscal year[.   This subsection
	expires August 31, 2015].
	(f)  The department shall not use the design-build method for
	the construction, expansion, extension, rehabilitation,
	alteration, or repair of a highway project if the project is
	substantially designed by the department or another entity other
	than the design-build contractor.
	(g)  The department shall not include more than one highway
	project in a design-build contract.
	SECTION 7.  (a) In this section:
	(1)  "Commission" means the Texas Transportation
	Commission.
	(2)  "Department" means the Texas Department of
	Transportation.
	(b)  Not later than the earlier of 30 days after the
	effective date of this Act or September 1, 2015:
	(1)  the speaker of the house of representatives shall
	appoint nine members to a House Select Committee on Transportation
	Planning and designate one member as chair; and
	(2)  the lieutenant governor shall appoint five members
	to a Senate Select Committee on Transportation Planning and
	designate one member as chair.
	(b-1)  In making appointments under Subsection (b) of this
	section, the speaker and the lieutenant governor should consider
	members that reflect diverse constituencies with respect to:
	(1)  geographic areas in the state;
	(2)  urban and rural areas; and
	(3)  ethnicity.
	(c)  The committees established under this section may meet
	separately at the call of the chair of the committee or jointly at
	the call of both chairs. In joint meetings, the chairs shall act as
	joint chairs.
	(d)  The committees established under this section, meeting
	separately or jointly, shall review, study, and evaluate:
	(1)  department projections regarding the revenue
	needed by the department to maintain current maintenance,
	congestion, and connectivity conditions;
	(2)  the development of funding categories, the
	allocation of funding to such categories by formula, project
	selection authority for each funding category, and the development
	of project selection criteria for commission, department, and
	district-selected projects;
	(3)  department rules and policies regarding the
	development and implementation of performance-based scoring and
	decision making for project prioritization and selection of
	commission, department, and district-selected projects;
	(4)  the use and utilization of alternative methods of
	financing that have been authorized by the legislature for
	projects;
	(5)  performance metrics and measurement tools used by
	the department to evaluate the performance of a department project
	or program;
	(6)  the department's collaboration with state elected
	officials, local governments, government trade associations,
	metropolitan planning organizations, regional mobility
	authorities, and other entities when adopting rules or formulating
	policies;
	(7)  any proposed rule, policy, program, or plan of the
	commission or department of statewide significance;
	(8)  any possible benefits of utilizing zero-based
	budgeting principles; and
	(9)  any other matter the committee considers
	appropriate.
	(e)  Following consideration of the factors described by
	Subsection (d) of this section, the committees shall prepare a
	written report on the reviewed subjects and shall, not later than
	November 1, 2016, provide to the legislature the report.
	(f)  The committees established under this section may
	exercise any power of a committee of their respective chambers and
	any powers of a joint committee. For the purposes of this section,
	the committees established under this section are considered a
	joint committee and the cost of operation of each committee may be
	borne in the same manner as the cost of a joint committee. The Texas
	Legislative Council shall provide funding for the operations of the
	committees. To the extent not inconsistent with this section, the
	joint rules adopted by the 84th Legislature for the administration
	of joint interim legislative study committees apply to the
	committees established under this section.
	(g)  Not later than December 1, 2015, the department shall
	submit an initial report to the select committees. The report shall
	provide information necessary for the select committees to review,
	study, and evaluate the factors described by Subsections (d)(1),
	(2), and (3) of this section. Not later than May 31, 2016, the
	department shall submit to the select committees a preliminary
	report on the remaining factors described by Subsection (d) of this
	section.
	(h)  This section expires January 9, 2017.
	SECTION 8.  (a)  Section 223.242(b-1), Transportation Code,
	as added by this Act, applies only to a contract entered into on or
	after the effective date of this Act. A contract entered into
	before that date is governed by the law as it existed on the date the
	contract was entered into, and that law is continued in effect for
	that purpose.
	(b)  Sections 223.242(f) and (g), Transportation Code, as
	added by this Act, apply only to a highway project for which a
	request for qualifications is issued on or after the effective date
	of this Act. A highway project for which a request for
	qualifications is issued before the effective date of this Act is
	governed by the law in effect on the date the request for
	qualifications was issued, and that law is continued in effect for
	that purpose.
	SECTION 9.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect August 31, 2015.
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