SB1555

The program covers rail-roadway projects at public roads outside the state highway system, and rail-pedestrian projects at public pedestrian crossings. Each grant needs Texas Transportation Commission approval, and the commission must determine that at least 10% of total project costs will come from a source other than the state. “Non-state” is not the same as a requirement that the local government alone supply the entire match. Final law.

Funding is limited to legislative appropriations for this purpose and gifts or grants, including federal grants. TxDOT may solicit and accept gifts and grants. State Highway Fund money may not fund a grant award. The act itself appropriates no money and promises no particular applicant an award. Final law.

A grant recipient must designate TxDOT to manage contracting and supervise planning and construction, with an agreement setting out the designation’s terms under applicable state or federal law. The statute incorporates Chapter 223, Subchapter A for contracting and requires contracts to follow the law governing contracts by or for the state. The transportation commission was required to adopt implementing rules by October 1, 2025. That legal deadline is not a claim that rules or a particular project were completed. Final law.

What changed in the Senate substitute: the introduced bill allowed grants to railroad companies as well as political subdivisions, did not expressly limit the listed crossings to public ones, and allowed an alternative 10% calculation based on money used as matching funds. The substitute removed railroad companies as direct recipients, specified public crossings, removed the separate matching-funds provision and its alternative calculation, and added TxDOT contracting and supervision. The final rule is 10% of total project costs, not 10% of a smaller matching-fund amount. These changes remained in the Senate-passed, House committee and final text. No floor amendments are indexed. Introduced; Senate substitute; Senate-passed; House committee; Version index; Amendment index.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

The program’s stated aims are public safety, economic development and reduced traffic. Communities could gain help financing eligible crossings, while recipients must secure non-state participation and use TxDOT’s project-management arrangement. Those aims do not establish actual crash reductions, travel-time savings or completed construction. Final law.

The March 11 introduced-version and March 14 Senate-substitute fiscal notes say state and local fiscal effects could not be determined, because the amounts and timing of appropriations, gifts and grants were unknown. They assume program administration can use existing resources and note that the act could support a later appropriation but makes none itself. The substitute fiscal note still describes railroad companies as possible recipients; the controlling substitute and final text do not, so that outdated description is not treated as enacted eligibility. Original fiscal note; Senate-substitute fiscal note; Final law.