Who Is TxDOT Accountable To? Certainly Not To Communities And Taxpayers!

Under state law the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) virtually is omnipotent. The only entity that has some authority over the agency is the state legislature.

The senate has its Committee on Transportation (& Homeland Security), headed by Chairman John Carona and Vice Chair Kirk Watson. While this body has some authority over TxDOT, in the past the agency at times has had belligerent conflicts with the committee.

The house has its Transportation Committee chaired by Mike Krusee and Larry Phillips.

Both legislative houses have maintained a “hands-off” policy when it comes to monitoring TxDOT. Generally, less government in daily affairs is a good thing, but when a state agency