The Texas Senate has given preliminary approval to its version of a major overhaul to the state's road-building agency.
(AP) --
It includes allowing voters in some counties to raise gas taxes to pay for road projects.
The Senate bill to renew the Texas Department of Transportation also would keep the agency's five-member commission.
That's even though the governor-appointed panel would be subjected to closer scrutiny from lawmakers.
Those two provisions are two major differences between the Senate and House in the bill.
Lawmakers have until the June 1 of the session to work out their differences.
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
