FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
AUSTIN, TX – State Senator Van Taylor and State Representative Scott Sanford filed the Keep Free Lanes Free Act. Filed as S.B. 891 and H.B. 1311 respectively, these bills would prohibit the conversion of any free lanes into tolled or managed lanes.
Senator Taylor stated, “The people of Senate District 8 have spoken loud and clear that they are fed up with the excessive tolling that engulfs our communities. Tolls are just a tax by another name. The people’s tax dollars funded ‘free’ lanes to begin with and converting those lanes into tolls is simply government trying to orchestrate double tax.”
Representative Sanford added, “Tolls are extracting an additional tax on our families and businesses. Collin County is surrounded by tolls, making us a gated community with one large transportation bill.”
Collin County represents the most heavily tolled county in Texas. In the 2016-2017 biennium, Texans pay an estimated $7,055,828,000 in gas tax. Divided by the estimated 27,862,596 Texans, every man, woman, and child accounts for about $126 per year in gas tax. Collin County residents pay an additional $288 million, or approximately $265 per man, woman, and child in tolls each year.
Senator Taylor continued, “The state should not force Collin County residents to front the infrastructure bill for the state and pay over triple the transportation tax compared to many other Texans. Over the course of a work life, the average commuter who uses a toll road twice a day in North Texas will pay over $100,000 in tolls. Collin County families could spend that money on buying a home, putting their children through college, or saving for retirement — not subsidizing the transportation needs for the rest of state.”
Over the past two sessions, the Texas Legislature approved historic transportation funding including: $1.3 billion by ending diversions from the Highway fund, $3.4 billion to date from Proposition 1 that passed in 2013, and an estimated minimum of $2.5 billion a year starting in 2018 from Proposition 7 which passed in 2015. Importantly, the Legislature accomplished this by prioritizing funding and not increasing taxes.
In 2014, the Collin County legislative delegation consisting of Senator Taylor and Representatives Jodie Laubenberg, Scott Sanford, Jeff Leach, Matt Shaheen and former Representative Scott Turner successfully blocked efforts to covert free lanes on US 75 into tolled lanes.
A seventh generation Texan, local small businessman, and decorated Marine Officer, Van Taylor serves the majority of Collin County and a portion of Dallas County in the Texas Senate where he is widely recognized as a conservative leader. Taylor serves as Vice-Chairman of the Sunset Advisory Commission and is also member of the Natural Resources and Economic Development, Education, Health and Human Services, Intergovernmental Affairs, and Nominations Committees. Van and his wife, Anne, married after his return from Iraq and are the proud parents of three young girls. Van and his family reside in Plano near the land his great-grandfather farmed during the Great Depression.
Representative Sanford is a life-long Texan, and a Baylor Bear for about half of that time. He earned BBA and MTax degrees, and maintains a CPA license in the State of Texas. His career path includes positions at Ernst & Young, and ownership in two franchise endeavors. Scott has served Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church in Allen, TX (formerly First Baptist Church in Fairview) since 1997 and is currently the Executive Pastor. He married Shelly Parks in 1987. They live in McKinney, the heart of the 70th House District. Their son, Ryan, graduated from McKinney Boyd High School. He is a sophomore at Baylor. Lauren, their daughter, is a junior at McKinney Christian Academy. Scott enjoys fishing, but likes catching even better. He is a water and snow skiing enthusiast, but not at the same time. In Austin he serves on the House of Representatives Urban Affairs Committee and the Human Services Committee.