HB 74 Creating Puerto Verde Port Authority District Stalls in Texas Senate at 89th Legislative Session, Fails to Pass
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2025
Texas House of Representative House Bill 74 creating the Puerto Verde Port Authority District, authored and sponsored by State Representative Heriberto “Eddie” Morales, Jr. of Eagle Pass, Texas, stalled in the Texas Senate Transportation Committee after being fast-tracked through the House of Representatives, failing to be approved before the end of the 89th Texas Legislative Session.
HB 74 stalled in the Texas Senate after a fierce legislative lobbying battle between advocates of the proposed legislation such as Representative Morales and Puerto Verde Holdings, LLC’s President and Chief Executive Officer Ruben Garibay and its team of lawyers and lobbyists and advocates opposed to HB 74 such as Union Pacific Railroad, City of Eagle Pass, Eagle Pass Border Coalition, Western Maverick County Committee, The Border Organization, Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association, Texas Pacuache Native American Nation, and many concerned citizens of Maverick County.
HB 74 proposed to create a new governmental entity in Maverick County with authority to impose taxes, assessments, fees, limited eminent domain powers, grant tax abatements, establish Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones (TIRZs), and all powers granted to a Texas governmental entity to four privately-owned real properties totaling 3,322 acres owned and/or controlled by Puerto Verde Holdings, LLC President and CEO Ruben Garibay and its investors. Three of the four private properties are owned by Farming Hydrosource, LLC and another by Maverick Heavy Cast and Haul, LLC. State Representative Morales proposed in HB 74 that the newly created public governmental entity be controlled by a Board of Directors of five persons hand-picked by Puerto Verde Holdings, LLC President and CEO Ruben Garibay, composed of Ruben Garibay, David Higgerson, Bobby Babcock, Rob Russell, and Benito Martinez, III.
Representative Morales filed HB 74 in the Texas House of Representatives on March 31, 2025, where the Bill was referred to the House Trade, Workforce, and Economic Development Committee. A public hearing was held on April 9, 2025 in the House Trade, Workforce, and Economic Development Committee. HB 74 was approved by the Texas House of Representatives on May 8, 2025, which was then sent to the Texas Senate on May 9, 2025 where it was referred to the Transportation Committee on May 12th. HB 74 was read for the first time in the Texas Senate Transportation Committee on May 12th.
A flurry of lobbying by opponents of HB 74 successfully stalled the legislation from being read a second and third time by the Texas Senate, causing the Bill to die before the end of the 89th Texas Legislative Session without a vote.
City of Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. whom had written a letter on behalf of the City of Eagle Pass to Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick on May 9th detailing the reasons why the City opposed HB 74 stated the demise of HB 74 at the Texas Senate was “a win for the City of Eagle Pass.”
Salinas stated in the City’s May 9th letter that “while the Bill outlines broad and ambitious goals related to economic development, infrastructure, and public welfare, it does so without the necessary input, consultation, or consideration of the City of Eagle Pass….the Bill fails to include meaningful safeguards for municipal oversight, public transparency, or accountability to local residents….The exclusion of our municipal government from the process is deeply troubling….As currently written, this Bill risks creating a shadow governance structure that may undermine local authority and potentially divert resources away from our residents without their consent….Eagle Pass deserves a seat at the table when it comes to decisions that affect our land, our economy, and our future.”
Also penning a letter of opposition to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick on May 13, 2025 was Union Pacific Railroad through its Assistant Vice President Clint Schelbitzki, stating “Union Pacific Railroad seeks your assistance in halting efforts to establish a new taxing entity district, Puerto Verde Port Authority District under House Bill 74. Puerto Verde is seeking taxpayer support to fund construction of a duplicative rail route between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras. Puerto Verde’s projected benefits are based on incorrect assumptions that Union Pacific will shift all rail traffic from our current Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras rail bridge, that there is rail congestion at the border, and that their route would improve community impacts. It is premature to provide Puerto Verde with the power to tax, issue bonds, and condemn property.”
Union Pacific Railroad added “Puerto Verde has not completed the federal environmental process, and importantly, has not resolved critical conflicts that could impact Union Pacific’s operations and our customers ability to move freight to and from Mexico.”
Although HB 74 has stalled and will not be approved in the 89th Texas Legislative Session, it is anticipated that the Bill or a new amended version of it will be introduced in the 90th Legislative Session in two years from now. In addition, the Puerto Verde Global Trade Bridge Project, composed of two international bridges with one a commercial motor vehicle and another a railroad, will proceed with plans to design, construct, and operate the project since they have obtained the Presidential Permit under the sponsorship of Maverick County, but not as a Puerto Verde Port Authority District.
