Pharr city officials are celebrating the passage of twin bills in the state House and Senate that will assist ports of entry with funding mechanisms.
House Bill 2843 and Senate Bill 1334 were ushered through the House and the Senate by state Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg and state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, and they were signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Greg Abbott. They go into effect immediately.
The legislation will create new funding opportunities for infrastructure projects, bolstering a billion dollar trade industry.
For the city of Pharr, Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez pointed to the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, which accounts for billions in trade and the majority of the produce entering the U.S. from Mexico.
“The city of Pharr prides itself on remaining proactive and innovative when it comes to infrastructure development at the Pharr International Bridge,” Hernandez said in a news release. “The bridge now crosses 65% of the nation’s produce imported from Mexico and over $36 billion in annual trade, and I am happy to see that our state leaders recognize that it is vital to continue prioritizing infrastructure needs for our port of entry.”
According to Hernandez, local governments can invest in infrastructure at ports of entry to “provide greater efficiency of cross-border movement of people and goods.”
Canales, who serves as chairman of the House Transportation Committee and the House Ports Caucus, authored the House version, or HB 2843. The representative said he was uniquely situated to get the bill signed into law.
“SB 1334 will better allow communities across the Texas/Mexico border to leverage their local dollars to strengthen our state’s economy and bolster the safety of our ports of entry,” Canales said in an email. “Thank you to Mayor Ambrosio and the City of Pharr for advocating for this legislation, which will have such an incredible impact on our Texas ports of entry.”
Canales also referred to the legislation as a “game changer” with broad implications, benefiting national trade opportunities.
Sen. Hinojosa, whose district covers the Pharr-Reynosa, Hidalgo-Reynosa and Anzalduas international bridges authored the Senate version of the bill, or SB 1334, and highlighted that it will improve trade with Mexico, which has increased by 267% since 1994 from $58 billion to $213 billion in 2019.
“From experience, the federal government takes forever to appropriate funding and take care of our needs to expand our capacity in our bridges,” Hinojosa said. “I heard complaints from the mayors and others from these communities about the slow pace of the federal government in expanding and building infrastructure that’s needed to not only expedite commerce from Mexico but also for public safety and security.”
According to Hinojosa, the city of Pharr wanted to issue bonds that would be paid off by the revenue created from the Pharr bridge. The Texas Attorney General’s Office said that the city did not have that authority.
The new law will now allow cities to issue bonds to help build the much needed infrastructures at ports of entry — particularly the large number of commercial trucks having to wait for hours on end at local ports of entry.
“This will expedite the expansion of the bridges already in existence and be able to accommodate more commerce — fruits and vegetables — from Mexico,” Hinojosa said.
