(Tribune News Service) — William Payne Francisco III, an 81-year-old retired Army captain from San Antonio, Texas, has been shot at, blown up, had his insides crushed during a parachute jump and saved a fellow soldier from drowning.

The injuries he suffered while valiantly serving his country in battle have left the Vietnam veteran partially deaf in both ears and with traumatic brain injury. He also depends on a scooter for mobility.

One small reward for the sacrifices he has made is that he can travel for free on some Texas toll roads. Some, but not all.

Francisco found out the hard way when he was contacted by a collection agency for unpaid tolls on State Highway 130.

That doesn’t seem fair, he said, recalling the surprise he received in the mail months after he traveled on a toll road to Georgetown to visit his daughter. “They all ought to have the same rules.”

Texas has more tollway operators than any other state. And each has its own rules. As such, drivers can be easily confused over which toll roads offer which exemptions. Take State Highway 130 for example. A stretch operated by TxDOT does offer free rides for veterans but the portion operated by SH 130 Concession Company doesn’t.

A proposed bill will at least bring uniformity on SH 130. It is one of a handful of bills pushed by some lawmakers during this Legislative session that could benefit drivers on some toll roads, but not clearing up much of the confusion over who doesn’t have to pay on toll roads across the state.

If passed, Senate Bill 1256, sponsored by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D- Laredo, would allow free passage to eligible military veterans but only on the 41-mile stretch of State Highway 130 in Austin, Texas.

Senate Bill 1256 is necessary, Zaffirini said, “because it ensures veterans traveling on State Highway 130 receive the same toll discounts available to veterans on other parts of the highway.”

Veterans “make tremendous sacrifices for our country,” she said, “and it is our responsibility and privilege to support them.”

That said, it leaves out veterans in North Texas. Toll roads operated by TxDOT provide the veteran discount. But the majority of toll roads in North Texas are privately operated or operated by the North Texas Tollway Authority and do not provide such a discount – nor is there pending legislation to do so.

That means veterans across Texas will still need to be wary of which toll road they drive on.

But while the confusion will remain for veterans, another bill would provide uniformity for a different group of motorists: public safety officers.

House Bill 2725, sponsored by state Rep. Sheryl Cole, D- Austin, would exempt tolls for public safety officers. If passed, the bill would impact police officers, paramedics and firefighters across the state.

In addition to those two bills, nearly two dozen additional pieces of legislation have been filed that could reverse state tolling policies that have been in place for decades, an acknowledgment by a growing number of legislators that Texas may have gone too far in its expansion of toll roads.

The various proposals aim to stop the criminalization of toll road offenses, enact enforcement reform, add transparency to billing, provide discount programs for some motorists, end tolling on certain state roadways, require voter approval for the construction of new toll projects and ensure local governments are not required to pay for toll roads that compete with their non-tolled highways and feeder roads.

The package of bills seeks to address many of the issues revealed this past year by The Dallas Morning News in its investigative series, “Toll Trap.”

The investigation noted that Texas, which is among the U.S. states with the most tollways, is one of only a handful of states that criminalize toll drivers for unpaid fees and regularly issue arrest warrants over the debts.

From 2001 to 2021, Texas built more toll road miles than nearly all other states combined, the examination found. The high concentration of toll roads came about because state leaders wanted to prepare for unprecedented growth without raising taxes. The News’ investigation, however, revealed widespread adverse effects on Texas drivers and small business owners.

While many lawmakers say the state’s governmental entities, including the Texas Department of Transportation, were rightfully tasked by the Legislature to build roads for a booming Texas population, they argue that the chosen solution — a toll-building spree — has created large and powerful bureaucracies unlike any other system in the country.

One bill, Senate Bill 2722, sponsored by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R- Houston, was introduced in response to public criticism that the Harris County Toll Road Authority may have spent toll surpluses on projects that do not relate to road construction and maintenance.

A county auditor’s report stated that surplus funds are placed in a special account designated for the study of design, construction maintenance, report and operation of roads, streets highways and other related facilities and cannot be used for the general operations of the county. But no state law oversees their use, critics say, “and the language is so loose that it can be spent on almost anything,” said Bill King, an attorney in Houston who is examining the toll road’s finances on behalf of the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston.

If passed, the bill would require an independent audit of the toll operator and earmark specific uses for the surplus funds. The bill has met opposition from those who want assurances that the surplus will be spent on road projects.

Calls to Bettencourt’s office for comment were not returned.

HCTRA spokesperson Tracy Jackson wrote in an email response to The News that some information that has been shared about the legislation carries “interpretations” of HCTRA’s financials and its law enforcement and incident response services on toll roads.

However, “those testimonies do not reflect a true picture of HCTRA’s critical role in providing mobility options.”

HCTRA officials plan to provide lawmakers with information about the “facts about HCTRA and how it prioritizes fiscal responsibility, public safety and improved travel,” Jackson wrote in the email.

NTTA says debt is an issue

Some of the toll-related bills introduced during the current legislative session provide relief for motorists.

Though with the exception of public safety officers, motorists driving on North Texas tollways will not see a direct benefit of any of the proposed bills – unless they are driving in other parts of the state.

Veterans are no exception. Unless driving on a toll road operated by TxDOT, they pay the same as everyone else.

The North Texas Tollway Authority, the region’s largest public tollway that oversees 1,200 tolled miles, said it cannot provide the discounts because it would be in violation of its commitment to bondholders to pay off its debts.

To ensure it can repay its debt, “we are prohibited from granting free passage on our roads,” spokesman Michael Rey wrote in response to questions from The News. “Over the coming years, we will repay nearly $9 billion in borrowed funds.”

That seems to not be an issue, however, when providing a break for a specific group of motorists: its employees, elected officials and appointed members of NTTA’s board of directors.

Rey said employees receive the benefit for daily travel to and from work and board members have the option of a non-revenue tag because “they serve in a non-compensated role and travel to NTTA headquarters more than 20 times a year” for meetings.

Technically, NTTA rules also allow elected officials to receive free passage, although Rey says no lawmakers have a non-revenue toll tag.

A break for public safety officers

Lawmakers who introduced this session’s bills say their constituents deserve relief.

Cole, who introduced the bill to exempt tolls for all Texas police officers, paramedics and firefighters on any toll road, believes the costs have become a financial burden on them.

Jake Salinas, who serves as Cole’s legislative director, said the bill was filed for public safety officers “who live near toll roads and use their personal vehicles to get to and from work every single day.”

Zaffirini said she introduced Senate Bill 1256 after hearing from one of her constituents that the toll road — SH 130 — had become a financial burden for veterans who travel on the road to receive medical care in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals in San Antonio.

Francisco is among those who will benefit. He would no longer have to pay tolls on his way to visit his daughter in Georgetown.

Francisco is a recipient of the Silver Medal, the Bronze Medal and the Soldier’s Medal for multiple feats of bravery during his service in the Army from 1966 to 1980, according to the U.S. National Personnel Records Center. On one occasion, he led his platoon in a seven-hour assault after an ambush by North Vietnamese forces in an abandoned village. In another, he wrestled an enemy soldier into submission. Also, in October 1967, he saved a fellow soldier who was loaded up with heavy equipment from drowning while he and the other man crossed a river in a Vietnam village.

Francisco said he only recently learned that the disabled veteran waiver and discount rules vary from operator to operator.

His impression is that the rules are “based on whatever the politician wants that controls the deal,” he said, “but they all ought to have the same rules.”

When contacted by The News, SH 130 Concession Company CEO Ananth Prasad said the toll operator looked forward to working with Zaffirini on SB 1256.

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