Texas Department of Transportation officials are worried about state's transportation funding woes. They reiterated at the first meeting of this  week session's House Transportation Committee that the agency needs a $4 billion-a-year infusion ($1 billion annually for maintenance and another $3 billion annually to expand).

TxDOT Executive Director Phil Wilson has offered written support for one proposal making the rounds: creating a state infrastructure fund. The idea, suggested by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and others, would involve taking $1 billion or more from the state's Rainy Day Fund and applying it toward an infrastructure bank that could be used to leverage highway construction projects. Wilson commented that this bank would allow transportation entities to improve their credit ratings or access additional financing for needed projects.