State Representative Angelia Orr joined fellow rural conservative Rep. Cody Harris as the joint author of House Bill 1402, legislation aimed at preventing Texas taxpayers from being forced to fund high-speed rail projects.
The Central Texas High-Speed Rail Project, originally proposed in 2009 to connect Houston to Dallas, is picking up steam from Amtrak and federal stakeholders; however, it would disproportionately benefit urban centers while neglecting the needs of rural communities. The bill is designed to safeguard taxpayers and protect the private property of farmers and ranchers.
“We cannot allow the government to trample over property rights for an expensive, unnecessary project,” Orr said. “Rural Texans should not be forced to bear the financial burden of a system that won’t serve their communities. This money should go toward improving infrastructure that we depend on, like roads and bridges, not a rail system that passes us by.”
House Bill 1402 is supported by the Texas Farm Bureau and other pro-agriculture organizations in Texas.
Angelia Orr is a rural conservative fighter who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee related to health and human services funding, as well as a member of the Culture, Recreation, and Tourism committee. She is honored to be serving in her second term as State Representative for Texas House District 13, representing the good people of Bosque, Falls, Freestone, Hill, Leon, and Limestone Counties and a portion of McLennan County.
