HBA-JEK H.C.R. 89 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.C.R. 89 By: Oliveira Transportation 2/12/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Transportation legislation enacted by the United States Congress over the last decade has identified 43 highway corridors as being nationally significant for moving people and commerce. Five of these corridors are located wholly or partially in Texas, and are eligible for priority construction and increased funding. Various Texas segments of High Priority corridors 18 and 20 are part of a proposed multistate highway that has been officially designated as Interstate Route I-69. This highway is federally certified as a natural route for trade under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and is a vital transportation corridor for the interstate and international trade of Texas and the United States. The Texas portion of the proposed 1,800 mile long highway extends more than 950 miles. The expansion of the Texas segment of High Priority Corridor 18 alone will cost $593 million dollars and will extend I-69 along U.S. Highway 281 and U.S. Highway 77 in the lower Rio Grande Valley connecting them to U.S. Highway 59. The Texas Transportation Commission states that it can fund just 33 percent of all needed road improvements for this project. While Texas can draw from a variety of funds for this project, an infusion of additional federal funds may help move the corridor's date of completion forward. Construction on the Texas portion of I-69 cannot begin until the environmental study is completed in 2007, even though the Rio Grande Valley's increasingly stressed transportation infrastructure will continue to accommodate the significant freight traffic arising from NAFTA during this time. House Concurrent Resolution 89 urges the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Department of Transportation to give priority funding to the construction of the Rio Grande Valley portion of I-69 in an effort to complete its construction ahead of schedule. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this resolution does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Concurrent Resolution 89 urges the Congress of the United States and the United States Department of Transportation to give priority funding to the construction of the Rio Grande Valley segment of Interstate Route I-69.