The state of Texas has a pick-up or car attitude towards transportation. Look at the mess I-35 is in going from San Antonio to Dallas, especially downtown Austin. They throw money at widening roads 10 years after the highway is a massive traffic problem. The Texas Legislature has no Rail leadership driving passenger expansion. When Kay Baily Hutchinson was a US Senator she was able to twist arms, dragging and kicking to get the Texas Eagle to be a daily train. Bottom line do not expect any funds from Texas in the next 20 years unless there is a huge benefit politically.
Probably, the best scenario would be a Daily TE CHI/LAX with a NOL connector train NOL/SAS thus eliminating the switching costs and time delays in SAS. True this would eliminate the SL, but in Congress the SL is a bad word, so maybe politically it works. Of course all depends on the new Amtrak President.