Texas has become the nation’s second most populated state and added nearly as many new residents over the past decade as California, which is much larger. This high growth rate is likely to continue in the decades to come. However, increased general taxation or gasoline taxation is not likely to be the answer for tansportation. It makes greater sense to require more direct user funding of transportation improvements. This would be accomplished by greater reliance on toll roads and HOT lanes. In the long run, electronic road pricing and competitive franchising of roadways may offer significant improvements.
Toward a More Well-Informed Citizenry
The 86th Texas Legislature sought to enhance public debt transparency through the creation of Voter Information Documents (VID). However, this instrument is not accurately providing debt amounts and needs reform. Key points: Governments are manipulating the VID methodology to deny voters accurate tax impact estimates. Many VIDs are dissimilar, making comparative analysis challenging. There is...