Five bills filed by state lawmakers fearful a high-speed rail project planned between Houston and Dallas will be a dud and need help from the state passed a key committee Wednesday, breezing their way past opposition from supporters of the line.

The bills approved Wednesday by the Senate Transportation Committee, three by state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, and one each by state Sens. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, and Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, address various concerns.

The plan by Texas Central Partners for a Japanese-style rail line between the two metros has divided rural lawmakers worried about the effects of the line on landowners and lawmakers from the two growing regions.

The differences have led to nearly 20 bills that could stymie development of the route, ranging from restricting use of eminent domain to explicitly banning the state from any financial commitments.

Schwertner said the efforts by skeptics are “simply about taxpayers and keeping them off the hook should a private high speed rail project fail.”

Supporters of the lines called them poison pills not just for Texas Central, but innovation in Texas.

“It sends a chilling message to business across the world and across the country that want to bet on Texas,” said Chris Lippincott, executive director of Texas Rail Advocates, a group supportive of the line. “These bills turn the Texas welcome mat into a do-not-enter sign.”

The company has said it intends to privately fund construction and operation of the line, expected to cost at least $12 billion. While they will apply for economic credits and loans common with major economic development projects, Texas Central officials have said those loans would be paid back, if they are even applied for and approved.

The company at one point hoped to begin construction this year, but has since set 2018 as a starting date. If work begins as planned, the line would be up and running by 2022.

The plan, however, faces continuing and intense opposition, in the Legislature and beyond.

Schwetner’s bills mostly address eminent domain responsibilities or specifically bar state agencies from aiding in the construction, beyond requirements to review and approve potential projects.

“Anything they have to do today they will have to do if this bill becomes law,” Schwertner said, referring to Texas Department of Transportation oversight of the project.

Kolkhorst’s bill, meanwhile, requires Texas Central to have compatibility with other rail projects. Japanese high-speed rail technology is not entirely interoperable with other train systems, favoring a closed-track system that can’t share tracks with, say, American freight trains.

As the U.S. catches up to the rest of the world with high-speed rail, Kolkhorst said she opposed giving one company or style of train a monopoly on Texas.

Birdwell’s bill requires Texas Central to have the same level of security at stations and along tracks as Amtrak – the federal passenger rail system – and compensate law enforcement for added costs associated with the route.

Responding to the bills in front of the transportation committee, Texas Central president Tim Keith said the proposals “overtly discriminate against the high speed train industry and this project in particular.”