| Senate approves bill to increase commission membership from three to five 04/04/2001 Associated Press AUSTIN – Texas' Transportation Commission would grow from three to five members, and two members would have to be from rural areas under legislation that is headed to a House committee.
The Senate approved the transportation commission legislation Tuesday. The Texas Transportation Commission oversees the Texas Department of Transportation.
Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, said he sponsored the bill because the state's transportation needs are increasing. Texas will have a chance to incorporate a broader range of issues with a larger board, Lucio said.
"Additional demands for increased representation are being placed on the commissioners due to the state's population increase of three million people," Lucio said.
Lucio's bill did not require that the commissioners come from certain regions of the state, as he had proposed in an earlier bill.
However, Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, added an amendment to the bill that would require that two of the five members come from rural areas. He said that without that amendment, urban areas would have too much clout on the board. Rules already require that one member of the commission be from a rural area, he said.
"I don't want to compromise the voice of rural Texas," Duncan said.
Others who opposed the bill said the transportation commission is functioning well with three members. Sen. David Bernsen, D-Beaumont, said that adding extra members to the commission will not provide the state with more transportation funds, which is what the state really needs.
The bill would not affect the current members of the commission, who would continue to serve out their terms.
|
