We all know there is a backlog of highway projects that has left huge gaps in Colorado’s transportation network. We also all agree there must be a sustainable funding source to chip away at that backlog over the long run. That funding source already exists. There is no need to raise taxes.

The money is pouring into state coffers as we speak, all the more so now that voters have suspended constitutional spending limits for five years. All we have to do is honor current law – Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1310 – when we spend that money. The law says tax revenue that is collected in excess of the 6 percent by which our General Fund is allowed to grow each year must go first to transportation.

The attached graph shows clearly how transportation funding has taken the deepest cuts during Colorado's recent budget crisis. Now is the time to catch up, not reduce transportation funding.

Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany will be introducing legislation to place the SB-1 and HB-1310 funding formulas into the state constitution -- giving Colorado a sustainable, permanent funding source for highways.

View the transportation funding graph here. 

(Graph provided courtesy of the Colorado Contractor's Association)