Pecos delegation reports win in state appropriations, pushes regional mobility authority and freight projects

Ernie Gonzales, representing EMT Strategy and the city’s legislative outreach, updated the Pecos City Council on June legislative activity and transportation advocacy, saying the Pecos Freight Village project was recommended for funding and that the city is pressing to form a regional mobility authority (RMA) and metropolitan planning organization (MPO) to boost project priority.

The update focused on recent work in Austin and Washington, D.C., including testimony in support of House Bill 188 and meetings with the Texas Transportation Commission and the Texas Freight Advisory Committee. Gonzales told the council “the Pecos Freight Village project was prioritized for funding and recommended to the Texas Transportation Commission on the next round of projects.” He also said EMT opened an office in Washington, D.C., to expand lobbying capacity.

Why it matters: council members and county partners are seeking ways to secure large transportation dollars for US 285 and US 25 improvements and a Pecos relief route; forming local planning bodies (MPO/RMA) would make Pecos more competitive for state and commission funding, Gonzales said.

Most of the report described technical and procedural steps. Gonzales said HB 188 — legislation to allocate severance-tax funding for energy-producing counties and infrastructure — cleared the House Appropriations Committee but did not reach a full chamber vote. He reported however that language achieving a similar goal was added as a rider to the state appropriations bill and that the rider allocates between "$250,000,000 to $505,000,000" for energy-producing counties and their infrastructure projects. Gonzales said the final distribution and project-level awards were pending action by the governor and the comptroller’s final allocations.

Gonzales described a strategy to increase Pecos’s likelihood of project selection by creating both an MPO and an RMA. He said Reeves County contracted transportation expert David Garcia to help assemble the structures and argued the combination of an MPO (for planning) plus an RMA (with tools to execute and finance projects) is what the Texas Transportation Commission tends to prioritize. Council members asked several operational questions — whether RMAs keep funds locally (Gonzales: “Yes,” estimating a typical low-end access of about $20 million every two years from state appropriations) and whether local elected officials would sit on MPO boards (Gonzales: at least two elected city representatives and two county commissioners are typical MPO membership requirements).

Gonzales also outlined upcoming advocacy steps: a July 29 stakeholder day in Pecos featuring TxDOT leadership and U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales to press for funding on US 25 and other corridor projects; a planned UTP (Unified Transportation Program) cycle beginning Aug. 1 that already included the Pecos relief route among prioritized projects; and ongoing coordination with state senators and the Texas Transportation Commissioner from Pecos. He said the team is tracking a large estimated cost for the relief-route phase (the report cited an estimated $760,000,000 for a later phase) and that federal and state funding will be needed.

Council members also heard that the delegation is exploring water infrastructure coordination (a West Texas desalination pipeline project) and housing and workforce-development funding included in the appropriations bill. Gonzales closed by urging continued local coordination among the city, county, EDC and the university system to position Pecos for both state and federal grants and appropriations.

What’s next: staff and council will host the July 29 stakeholder visit with federal and state officials and continue steps to form an RMA/MPO and submit required documentation to TxDOT and the Freight Advisory Committee for prioritized projects.