AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new bill filing in the Texas Legislature could prohibit tax rate elections from funding multi-billion-dollar capital projects — including those like Austin’s Project Connect light rail program.
Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R-Lakeway) filed House Bill 3879, also known as the Texas Taxpayer & Voter Defense Act. The bill is intended to “close two perceived loopholes in the law,” including the use of tax-rate elections to fund substantial capital projects as well as a lack of limits on how much a project can change in scope or costs once voters have weighed in on it.
Greg Canally, executive director of the Austin Transit Partnership — the organization tasked with delivering the city’s light rail system — said in a statement Project Connect is continually working toward “advancing the final design and construction of Austin Light Rail.”
“Austin voters overwhelmingly approved this transformative project that will reduce travel times, spur the development of much-needed housing, and generate jobs and state-wide economic benefits,” his statement continued. “The need for more local investment in our transportation infrastructure will only increase as our state and community continue to grow.”
Troxclair’s bill calls on an amendment to the Texas Tax Code to add a definition for projects that “materially deviate” from what voters approved, including those that “make a significant change in carrying out the purpose stated to voters on a ballot proposition.” Those significant changes defined in the bill include substantial changes in purpose, the financing structure for the purpose, an increase of 33% or more in the actual or project costs of the purpose as well as a sizable reduction in the project’s scope or scale.
While the bill’s language doesn’t specifically name Project Connect, Troxclair did address Austin’s light rail program in her release Thursday. She said this would be a statewide policy applicable to all municipalities within Texas, and Austin wouldn’t be an exception.
We don’t want this happening in any city in Texas. It sounds to me like Project Connect is a mess. The OAG’s office won’t approve their bonds. The Texas Solicitor General has been assigned to a lawsuit against the project’s financing plan. Local taxpayers and Democrat elect officials are suing to stop the project. The Trump administration will likely not grant them any federal funding. And the project voters approved has been totally thrown out and replaced with a miniature light-rail line, with no downtown tunnel, no airport connection.”
Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R-Lakeway)
Texas Sen. Paul Bettencourt is anticipated to file the same bill in the Senate, Troxclair confirmed in her announcement.
“This is simply unacceptable,” Bettencourt said in the release. “Every session, we work hard to cut property tax burdens, yet local governments find new loopholes. The law I wrote in 2019 doesn’t grant use of M&O collections for long-term debt issuance – this legislation will make that clear.”
A spokesperson for the city of Austin referred to Project Connect as a “catalyst project” for the Texas capital, particularly amid the city’s population growth and expanding congestion issues.
“Project Connect is a catalyst project for our community, expected to grow investment along the corridor while reducing travel times for commuters moving through the city. City leadership is aware of the recently filed House Bill 3879 and staff is reviewing it now,” the spokesperson said.
How did we get here?
This isn’t the first legislative filing targeting projects akin to Project Connect’s funding model. Back in the 2023 Texas legislative session, Troxclair and Bettencourt filed the “No Blank Checks” bill in each of their respective chambers.
That bill, House Bill 3899, aimed “to ensure local government corporations in Texas follow the same rules as cities and counties when issuing debt backed by property taxes,” a release read at the time. It intended that any local government corporate created via a tax rate increase election — including Austin Transit Partnership — would need to abide by the same rules cities and counties do when issuing debt.
Amendments later made to the bill sought to prohibit any local government corporation from issuing bonds that would then be repaid by city property taxes raised via an election. An Austin House delegation, including Rep. John Bucy III (D-Austin), assisted in preventing the amended version of the bill from moving forward.
In a statement Thursday, Bucy criticized Troxclair’s latest filing as a “blatant attempt to overturn a free and fair election.”
In 2020, Austin voters overwhelmingly approved Project Connect with 58% of the vote in an election with over 70% turnout. Austinites made their voices heard — they want a robust public transit system that connects our city and surrounding communities.
But this isn’t just about Austin. House Bill 3879 sets a dangerous precedent of overreach that threatens infrastructure projects across Texas. This is the definition of big government. Rep. Troxclair wants to micromanage cities, strip away voter-approved funding, and block progress that Texans voted for. HB 3879 isn’t about accountability — it’s about political interference in local decision-making.
I blocked this legislation last session, and we will do it again.
Statement from Rep. John Bucy III (D-Austin) on HB 3879’s filing
While that 2023 bill was killed in regular session, legal issues have continued to target the city’s light rail system.
In May 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion questioning the legality of the debt and funding structure behind Project Connect, as well as the development of the Austin Transit Partnership. That was merely an opinion that offered a non-binding legal interpretation, which Austin Transit Partnership and city officials denounced.
Later in November 2023, a group of plaintiffs filed a lawsuit related to the revised light rail plan adopted by Project Connect leadership in June 2023. Bill Aleshire served as co-counsel for those plaintiffs alongside Rick Fine.
In February 2024, the Austin Transit Partnership filed a bond validation lawsuit that sought a court to weigh in on the legality behind the organization’s bond program for the light rail system. A trial was originally set for June 2024 to consider both the bond validation suit as well as the November 2023 filing against the adopted scope; that trial halted courtesy an interlocutory appeal from Paxton’s office.
The 15th Court of Appeals later dismissed Paxton’s appeal in early October, citing “lack of jurisdiction.” His office then filed in late October a motion requesting a rehearing of his appeal.
Aleshire and Fine confirmed Paxton filed an appeal with the Texas Supreme Court on Dec. 20, following the 15th Court of Appeals’ decision to dismiss his June interlocutory appeal.
Aleshire and Fine also filed a separate suit in August 2024 against Austin City Council, alleging the approved property tax rate for fiscal year 2025 violated Texas Tax Code. That suit argued the city’s property tax rate increase for Project Connect, approved by voters as part of the November 2020 bond election, was no longer viable due to changes in the light rail’s scope and allegations the tax rate isn’t “being used as promised,” per the original suit.
A Travis County judge ultimately dismissed that suit in late December of last year.
