The Texas Senate on Monday added a key amendment to HB 3899, also known as the No Blank Checks Act, strengthening provisions designed to protect Texas taxpayers.
This happened on the heels of the Texas Attorney General’s Office issuing an opinion that found the financing scheme created to fund Project Connect illegal.
That financing scheme was the first of its kind, and was devised in a way that circumvented key protocols the State of Texas requires of cities and counties when issuing debt backed by property taxes.
The amendment, proposed by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, prohibits:
- The City of Austin from using maintenance and operations funds to finance ATP’s debt; and
- Austin Transit Partnership from issuing bonds with a maturation period of more than one year from being paid back by maintenance and operations funds from the City of Austin.
Bettencourt asked the Texas Attorney General’s opinion while hearing testimony about HB 3899, and commented on Twitter he intended to propose amendments that took into account the findings.
Gerald Daugherty, a former Travis County Commissioner, is one of the forces behind the No Blank Checks group and legislative action.
“The bill with the Senate amendments effectively sticks a fork in a terribly-devised financing scheme that never should have made it on a ballot,” Daugherty said. “It’s time the City of Austin and CapMetro go back to the drawing board and work on a transit plan that can be funded in a way that’s real, clear, legal and transparent. These basic protocols shouldn’t have to be mandated by the Texas Legislature, but we’re very grateful HB 3899 has had such incredible support.”
The amendments come following unanimous votes in favor of HB 3899 in the Senate Local Government Committee that took place on May 19, and the Texas House earlier this month.
From here, HB 3899 goes back to the Texas House to vote on the Senate amendments. Bettencourt carried the legislation in the Senate, while Rep. Ellen Troxclair, a former Austin City Council Member, spearheaded efforts in the Texas House.
Troxclair has repeatedly noted that the goal of the bill is to make sure capital improvement projects are financed in a way that’s transparent, consistent with state law, and with accountability to taxpayers in mind.
Project Connect’s initial phase is now a shadow of what voters believed they approved – with supporters claiming this is their way of ‘living within the budget.
The No Blank Checks group hopes governmental entities will be far more careful with their ‘estimations’ in the future and give voters a fair crack at voting on an actual plan with an actual budget and realistic deliverables.
In addition to Daugherty, No Blank Checks Act supporters include: Gonzalo Barrientos (D), a member of the Texas Senate from 1985 to 2007 and a member of the Texas House of Representatives from Austin from 1975 to 1985; Margaret Gómez (D), who has served as a Travis County Commissioner since 1995; and Ora Houston, who served on the Austin City Council from 2015 to 2019. All three are active within the local Democratic party. Other supporters include: Bill Aleshire, a former Travis County Tax Collector and Travis County Judge; Nelson Linder, president of Austin NAACP; Dr. Sterling Lands, the Senior Pastor of the Greater Calvary Bible Church; and Daniel Young, general manager of Dirty Martin’s, a local business that found out after the 2020 election that it will be displaced.
