Monday, April 18, 2011

WHO owns the road?

Incoming news from our friends at TexasTURF.org.  If YOU don't know WHO they are, YOU need to.  YOU can't afford not to.  Hurry, before there's no Texas Turf left.

Sell-out: Committees pass bills to allow foreign-owned toll roads & the sale of other infrastructure to private corporations-- including WATER supply facilities, ports, public buildings, & hospitals, using public private partnerships (PPPs)

House passes eminent domain bill, SB 18, with few changes
-- Doesn't prevent eminent domain for private gain in the name of a "public use," like foreign-owned toll roads.

HB 2255 & HB 2432 UNLEASH public private partnerships (PPPs) across Texas

PPPs are kept SECRET from the public, eliminate competitive bidding, put the taxpayers on the hook for losses, grant monopolies over public infrastructure & charge user fees for public access. In the case of roads, they contain non-competes that prohibit or penalize the expansion of free roads & the published toll rates are 75-80 cents per mile, like adding $15 to EVERY gallon of gas you buy!

HB 2255 (Phillips) - Passed out of Committee Wednesday, despite substantial public opposition and objections by Rep. Yvonne Davis about the lack of competitive bidding, read about the drama here. This bill would sell-off portions of SEVEN Texas highways (Grand Pkwy around Houston, I-35E in DFW, two segments of 183 in DFW, I-35W & I-820 in DFW, and SH 249 in Harris and Montgomery counties) to foreign corporations in SWEETHEART DEALS.

HB 2432 (J. Davis) - Passed out of Committee, also in spite of public opposition by 7 different groups. This bill is being pushed by Balfour Beatty, a British infrastructure firm, and it applies to virtually EVERY other kind of infrastructure aside from roads like: WATER supply facilities, hospitals, mass transit, ports, public bldgs for up to 100 YEARS! Who does this bill benefit? Lobbyists from foreign countries seeking to takeover our infrastructure, not Texans!

Go here to learn more and to help!

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