Articles

Proposition 6 - VOTE YES!!

ATTENTION ASCE MEMBERS IN TEXAS

Support Infrastructure Improvement This Election

On November 5th, voters in Texas will head to the polls to vote on a number of ballot propositions important to both the people of Texas and the Civil Engineering Profession. The Texas Section of ASCE encourages you to act on the following Proposition:

• Proposition 6: Vote YES!

Proposition 6: Vote YES!
The proposal will authorize the transfer of $2 billion from the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF or “Rainy Day Fund”) to a State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT). The $2 billion one-time cash infusion will be used with already authorized bonds to provide low interest loans, credit enhancement, interest deferrals, and other financial assistance to projects approved in the State Water Plan. It is expected that the SWIFT will operate as a revolving fund; with repayments funding new loans, the program should provide the financing needed to implement the projects in the 50-year State Water Plan.

Ballot Language:
"The constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas and the State Water Implementation Revenue Fund for Texas to assist in the financing of priority projects in the state water plan to ensure the availability of adequate water resources."

A Message from ASCE’s Texas President:
Water is our most abundant and important resource, yet only a small fraction of the water on the earth is fresh water. This resource is needed to sustain life.

Texans have been blessed with an abundant supply of fresh water thanks to the vision of our leaders in the twentieth century. Most of our lakes were constructed in the first half of that century, providing us with a significant water supply. 

Since this era of construction, population of Texas has tripled. Fresh water has become a precious commodity. With the State’s population expected to increase 82 percent between 2010 and 2060, growing from 25 million to 46 million people, it is imperative that we provide solutions to handle this dilemma.

The American Society of Civil Engineers Texas Section’s 2012 Report Card Update for Texas’s Infrastructure assigned the State’s infrastructure a cumulative grade of C. The focus on the resource of clean water is an important component of this unacceptable grade.

Fortunately the Texas legislature and governor understood the problem and reacted by creating the new Statewide Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT). This Fund will be started by a onetime transfer of $2 billion from the “Rainy Day Fund”. The SWIFT will not be created unless you vote YES!

ASCE encourages everyone to get out to vote and to vote FOR Proposition 6 to fund much needed water improvement projects!

Tim C. Newton, PE, President
American Society of Civil Engineers, Texas Section


To view this proposition along with the other items on the State-wide ballot you can visit the State of Texas’ Election Division website at http://votetexas.gov/voting/what/

To view the ASCE Texas Infrastructure report Card visit
http://www.texasce.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=84

Please pass this message on to other Texas voters!