LAWMAKERS SEND LETTER TO TEXAS SUPREME COURT REGARDING HIGH SPEED RAIL CASE

  

A group of Texas state representatives and senators have sent a Supplemental Amicus Curie Letter to the Texas Supreme Court urging them to put an end to the controversial Texas High Speed Rail project.

The supplemental letter is signed by ten representatives including Kyle Kacal of District 12 and Ben Leman of District 13, along with Senators Lois Kolkhorst of District 18 and Charles Schwertner of District 5.

The lawmakers had submitted the original Amicus Curae letter last year in the case of James Frederick Miles vs. Texas Central Railroad and Infrastructure Inc. and Integrated Texas Logistics.

The Texas Supreme Court heard the case this past January, and now both sides are awaiting the official ruling.

Documents filed with the court show that attorneys from ten different counties, including Grimes and Waller, claim that the rail company owe almost $623,000 in back taxes.

In the supplemental letter, which Congressman Leman posted on his Facebook page, TCRI is accused of using the threat of eminent domain to pressure local landowners into selling their property through option contracts, only to collateralize the properties in order to secure a $300 million loan from the Japanese government.

The letter states that if TCRI were to default, the Japanese Government would be in a position to obtain full title to the land without judicial foreclosure. The lawmakers felt this was an extremely possible scenario given that TCRI can’t even afford to pay their back taxes.

Also in the letter, it says that TCRI swore to the House Land and Resource Management Committee back in 2019 that they would not exercise their options to purchase any properties until they had all of the necessary permits and the $30 billion in funding needed to build the project. The lawmakers claim that TCRI has secured neither, but exercised its options to purchase anyway.

In addition to that, the letter states that neither the Texas Legislature or the Texas Constitution would give the power of eminent domain to a private entity, especially one that has been accused of acting on behalf of a foreign government.

Congressman Leman, who used to be the chairman for the group Texans Against the High Speed Rail before getting into public office, said that TCRI has no money, no permits, and are not even applying for permits, and that this needs to be the end for the project.