Mecklenburg's Bill Brawley Signs onto H267.

First thing Monday morning, Rep Bill Brawley of Matthews signed on as a sponsor of H276 filed last Thursday in the NC House.  While there are unconfirmed rumblings that this bill might not impact the I-77 HOT Lanes project, the fact that Rep Brawley is now a sponsor is definitely interesting.

Here's Bill Brawley at the January 14th WidenI77.org meeting in Cornelius describing his roll in helping push through the bill authorizing the P3 concept for the project.  His comments start at minute 15:00 of this clip.




In January, on the eve of starting his new role as Chair of the House Transportation Committee, Rep Brawley seems to be a fairly ardent supporter of the I-77 HOT Lanes project while still seeming to understand the concerns of those in the room.  Two months later, he signs on as a sponsor of a transportation bill which could derail that project (rumblings to the contrary notwithstanding).

When the Chair of a committee sponsors a bill directly in the purview of that committee, it has a good shot at passing.  H267 now sits in the House Transportation Committee.

Update 3/12: The rumblings continue out of Raleigh that this bill will not impact any decision on I77. If that is the case it certainly is intentional as this bill certainly could be structured to do so.

Update2 3/13: And the other shoe drops...Mr Brawley appears to actually have signed onto the bill to ensure that it does not interfere with the toll plans, not the other way around  See here.