The Highwaymen:

Contractors & Governor Paving Way for Highway-Spending Spree.

---

“Tire tracks all across your back—I can see you’ve had your fun.”
—Jimi Hendrix, Crosstown Traffic In recent years Governor Rick Perry raked in $235,133 from highway contractors that landed almost $1 billion in state contracts in the past nine months. It’s enough patronage to make a conservative tax and spend.

This ex-A&M cheerleader barnstormed Texas this summer promoting a road-spending spree. He:

• Hit Harlingen, Laredo and Corpus to unveil $100 million in expedited road funding;
• Visited Houston to announce an acceleration of a $952 million Katy Freeway expansion;
• Trumpeted Texas’ $1 billion transportation budget hike; and
• Is only promoting two amendments on the November ballot—both of which let the state go into debt to lay pavement.¹


The governor covered so much road so quickly that reality did not catch up with him until this month, when the media reported that the Department of Transportation (TXDOT) has shot its wad. For the immediate future, the state will delay rather than expedite road projects.

House Appropriations Chair Rob Junell was reportedly angry that he learned about this budget crunch after lobbyists for the Associated General Contractors.²

TXDOT contractor contributions to Perry are troubling because the governor appoints the three commissioners who oversee TXDOT’s $2.2 billion annual construction budget.

Perry appointed a friend, ex-legislator Ric Williamson, to the commission in April. While ex-Governor Bush appointed commissioners John Johnson and Robert Lee Nichols, every member has given Perry at least $6,000 in recent years.

Perry also is benefiting from contractor expenditures to pass the two road proposals on the November ballot. Highway contractors have contributed $91,750 in the past two months to the “Yes on 2 & 15” PAC, which Hillco Partners lobby firm created to pass the amendments. The PAC has bought a full-page Texas Monthly ad that prominently features Perry’s photo.

TXDOT’s top two contractors, Houston’s Williams Brothers Construction and San Antonio’s H.B. Zachry
Co., together have landed an astonishing $528,570,233 in TXDOT contracts so far this year.

Since 1997, Perry has received $75,000 from Williams Brothers Chair James Pitcock, Jr and another $33,000 from H.B. Zachry (most of which came from H. Bartell Zachry, Jr.). In the 1998 and 2000 election cycles alone, Pitcock spent $239,750 to influence candidates for Texas’ statewide and legislative offices.

Pitcock is a political pragmatist, giving all of his state political money to incumbents in the 2000 election cycle. The only non-incumbents receiving Pitcock money in 1998 ran for open seats. One of these was Democrat John Sharp ($6,000), who Perry defeated with just over 50 percent of the lieutenant governor vote. Pitcock has since filled this Perry pothole, giving Perry $50,000 in the 2000 cycle and another $25,000 since.

Political clout is a valuable commodity for a leading TXDOT contractor that has a history of going over deadline and budget. A 1998 Houston Chronicle investigation found that the average state highway contractor was penalized for late work 18 percent of the time, while Williams got late penalties 57 percent of the time.³

Most states have the authority to prevent chronically late contractors from bidding on new jobs. But two lobby groups that Pitcock once headed helped prevent Texas from adopting this policy in 1996 and 1997.⁴
 
 

Since January, TXDOT Has Awarded Almost $1 Billion To Highway Contractors Who Gave Gov. Perry $235,133 Highway Contractor Base Donations To Perry* Value of TXDOT Contracts Since Jan. 2001 No. of TXDOT Contracts Williams Brothers Construction Houston $75,000 $213,128,721 10 H B Zachry Co. Sn Antonio $33,000 $315,441,512 5 TX Aggregates & Concrete Assn Austin $25,000 NA NA Dean Word Construction Co. N.Braunfels $21,683 $38,246,094 2 Assoc. Gen'l Contractors of TX Austin $19,000 NA NA Garey Construction Co. Austin $11,750 $6,182,454 3 Assoc. Builders & Contractors Austin $11,000 NA NA J D Abrams, Inc Austin $8,500 $45,754,477 3 Austin Industries (Bridge & Road) Dallas $8,000 $40,360,786 18 Champagne-Webber Inc. Houston $3,500 $70,423,930 11 Reece Albert Inc. Sn Angelo $3,000 $38,779,808 6 TX Sterling Construction Houston $3,000 $2,377,528 1 Young Contractors Waco $3,000 $39,488,561 12 Zack Burkett Co. Graham $2,700 $13,485,196 10 Houston Contractors Houston $2,500 NA NA Ramming Paving Company Austin $1,500 $1,614,501 2 Coalition for Better Transportation Dallas $1,000 NA NA Hunter Industries Sn Marcos $1,000 $99,331,074 26 Jones Brothers Dirt and Paving Odessa $1,000 $22,148,210 7   TOTALS: $235,133 $946,762,852 116 *Perry contributions cover June 1997 through June 2001.  Road Warrior James Pitcock Gave Texas Politicians $239,750 in 1998 and 2000 Politician or PAC Pitcock Contributions George W. Bush  $52,000 Rick Perry $50,000 Pete Laney $20,000 Tony Garza $12,500 Clyde Alexander  $10,000 Asc. Gen'l Contractors $10,000 John Cornyn $10,000 Bill Ratliff $10,000 Todd Staples $10,000 Mike Jackson $7,500 John Sharp $6,000 Ken Armbrister $5,000 David Bernsen $5,000 Fred Bosse $5,000 Buster Brown $5,000 David Dewhurst $5,000 John Whitmire $5,000 Rob Junell $2,500 Debra Danburg $1,500 Dennis Bonnen $1,000 Joe Crabb  $1,000 Paul J. Hilbert $1,000 Scott Hochberg $1,000 Steve Ogden $1,000 Kyle Janek $500 Tracy King $250 TOTAL: $239,750

---

¹Amendments 2 and 15 would allow the state to finance road projects with bonds.
See: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/constitutionalamendments.shtml
²“Roadwork on Hold As State Fund Runs Low,” Austin American-Statesman, October 16, 2001.
³“King of the Road,” April 26, 1998. See also the Chronicle’s: “No Love Lost For Unfinished Bridge,” January 23, 1995 and “Penalties Pave Way On Freeway,” July 1, 1995.
⁴The Association of General Contractors and the Texas Good Roads and Transportation Association helped defeat this proposal before a 1996 Sunset Commission and again in the 1997 legislative session.
 

 

#  #  #

Texans for Public Justice is a non-partisan, non-profit policy & research organization
 which tracks the influence of money in politics.

---

Lobby Watch | home