Friends,

Representative Glenn Scott (R-Westminster) joined five Democrats to passed the Multimodal Transportation Funding bill (HB-1329) in the Colorado House Finance Committee yesterday (2/21/01) afternoon.  The Committee vote was 6-5. Joining Rep. Scott in voting "yes" were Reps. Michael Garcia (D-Aurora), Cheri Jahn (D-Wheat Ridge), Rosemary Marshall (D-Denver), Desiree Sanchez (D-Denver), and Abel Tapia (D-Pueblo).  Those voting against the measure included Reps. Mark Cloer (R-Colorado Springs), Rob Fairbank (R-Littleton), Timothy Fritz (R-Fort Collins), Keith King (R-Colorado Springs), and Joe Stengel (R-Littleton).

HB-1329, authored by Rep. Alice Madden (D-Boulder) would ask voters to approve $1.325 billion of state surplus funds over a ten year period for rail, bus, bike, and pedestrian projects. C-DOT would administer and prioritize applications for multimodal projects from communities/regions who would be expected to provide some matching funds.  The bill requires that at least a fourth of the money be set aside for multimodal projects in non-Front Range/rural counties.

Rep. Madden began her comments by saying that C-DOT has a $30 billion shortfall of which more than half includes rail, bus, HOV lanes, and bike ways.  "Because dollars are dedicated to highways, there is nothing left," she added.  She estimated that the average yearly cost to the taxpayer of her proposal would be $25 of surplus tax revenue which would not be refunded.

She then proceeded to introduce amendments to her bill which were approved by committee members without objection. Amendments included language to specifically add bike and pedestrian projects, expand the definition of "Front Range Counties" to include Weld and Pueblo, delete an ambiguously worded statement regarding open space, increase flexibility of funding for rural communities/regions, require that any multimodal improvement conform to existing regional plans, and allow C-DOT the choice of waving the 20% funding match requirement from local/regional governments.

Prior to taking a formal vote, various committee members made comments on the bill. Rep. Garcia praised Rep. Madden for helping Colorado "take a step into the '80s." [Note: The representative was suggesting that this bill should have been proposed 20 years ago.]  Rep. Cloer said he liked the bill and light rail but added, "I don't trust C-DOT.  I need a guarantee from them where the money will be spent."  Rep. Marshall stated, "I have heard more positive comment from citizens about this bill than any other bill proposed this session."  She urged committee members to approve the bill adding, "If we don't, then we may face a (citizens' initiated) ballot issue."  Rep. Jahn took issue with Rep. Cloer's statement and said she liked the idea specific projects were not identified in the bill.

Rep. King said all his constituents want highway improvements and added, "Amendment 23 (Education funding initiative approved last November) got us into trouble with tax surpluses in the first place.  He then proceeded to talk about the bill as though it was a highway funding bill saying other legislators would strip away existing revenue streams for highway funding if another revenue source was created from surplus tax funds.

Rep. Scott said that C-DOT was only supportive of the bill title and suggested that the rest of the language could be eliminated so that C-DOT could develop a list of highway and transit projects to include in the body of the bill. [Note: After the hearing, Transportation Commissioner, Jo Ann Groff (Westminster) and C-DOT lobbyist, Jennifer Webster, hastened to tell me that C-DOT has no intention of turning this bill into a highway funding bill.  C-DOT agrees "in concept" with the bill as written.]

Finally, Rep. Fairbank claimed the voters would be reluctant to vote for any funding bill as long as projects were not specified. He opposed Rep.  Scott's suggestion that C-DOT be permitted to compose the bill's contents.

The bill now moves on to the House Appropriations Committee for consideration. No time for its review has been scheduled as yet.

Many thanks to all of you who called your representatives and asked them to support this bill.  I think we really made a difference in getting representatives on either side of this issue to seriously consider the importance of highway alternatives and the need to adequately fund them.

Jon Esty, President
ColoRail