Tag: Transportation

Republican senators in Colorado are going all out today to stop a bill that would end automatic tax revenue allocations for roads and capital construction. Threatening long debate in the capitol tonight and a "barrage of amendments" to cripple the bill, the senators have now turned to Democratic Governor Bill Ritter to join them in defeating legislation they say would "gut" both highways and the constitution.

Heated exchange preceded today's debate on Colorado Senate Bill 228, which seeks to repeal the the so-called "6 percent solution," the long-established and controversial cap on General Fund growth. The new bill would give lawmakers increased flexibility to decide how to allocate Colorado's shrinking state budget. Animated members of the Republican minority trolled the speaker's podium this morning, taking turns calling out House Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer (D-Longmont) on his decision to move debate on the bill to later in the day and for threatening to invoke procedural gag rule 9-C, which would limit discussion to five hours.

SB 108, the so-called FASTER plan to fund road and bridge repairs, is just a couple of minor procedural steps from hitting Gov. Bill Ritter’s desk for a signature after the state House of Representatives passed it 34-31 on final reading Wednesday.

Local rail and public transit enthusiasts are in for a cold slap of reality after the historic signing of the $787 billion economic recovery plan. During Tuesday's visit to Denver with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden said the federal stimulus bill will be a big boost to mass transit in the United States, with funding impacts for commuter rail projects from Colorado to Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

State Sen. Dan Gibbs (D-Dillon) took his controversial transportation-funding bill on the road over the weekend, trying to get out in front a fickle public largely unwilling to increase taxes for road and bridge fixes in recent years.

Lawmakers, after initially singing Kumbaya on a transportation funding bill that would raise vehicle registration fees to pay for road and bridge repairs, went their bipartisan ways late Wednesday when the possibility of tolling on existing roads was reintroduced. That prompted a Democrat-led state Senate vote of approval by a 19-16 party-line margin late Wednesday, and a mass exodus by Republicans.

Senate Republicans and Democrats smoked a peace pipe Wednesday in their heated debate over a transportation funding bill called FASTER (Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery).

State lawmakers continue to be divided along party lines on a controversial Senate bill that would raise vehicle registration fees $32 a year to pay for badly needed road and bridge repairs. The bill's main impact would be to boost vehicle registration fees $32 annually, raising a little over $200 million in its first year to fund badly needed road and bridge repairs, including the state’s 126 structurally deficient bridges. It's cruising through the statehouse under the catchy slogan-title Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery or FASTER.

The version of the stimulus bill currently being considered by the U.S. Senate contains nearly $14 million more in transportation infrastructure funding for Colorado than the version passed by the House last week. Some lawmakers say that's still not enough. Calling the final figure “a moving target,” CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman on Monday provided an analysis that showed the Senate version would make available $425.7 million for state transportation infrastructure projects, while the House version comes in at about $412 million.

With all the caterwauling about the real or feigned economic firepower of the federal transportation stimulus package, here's something you can take to the bank — lousy roads are costing local drivers a pile of money.