FHWA backs off of threats

In previous developments, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) had written a threatening letter, at the request of Mike Krusee, regarding HB1892. In the letter they expressed concern but not certainty that the provisions in HB1892 would cause Texas to lose Federal funding for highways. U.S. Senator Hutchinson, from Texas, wrote a letter back expressing her discomfort with a federal agency attempting to influence local state politics. Upon being challenged, the FHWA has now written a response to Senator Hutchinson saying that HB1892 can be implemented without jeapordizing federal funding.

So, why would a federal agency be interested in influencing local politics? They obviously were just blowing smoke because they quickly backed off from previous statements.

Here is my take on the reasoning. The Federal Highway Administration is like any other government agency. They are limited in the amount of funds they have to pass out for projects. You probably won't find any state that claims to get what it needs in funding from the federal agency. As such, there just isn't enough money to go around. When the FHWA saw the Texas model of funding roads through tolls and private capital, it saw a way to free up some of its funds for other uses. Now that the citizens of Texas have said a resounding NO to selling off roads, that source of alternate funding is going away. They were doing what they could to try to keep the alternate source of capital on the table. They were not interested in the benefit to citizens or making sure rederal rules weren't violated. They were simply protecting their budget.