Senate Dems drive dollars out of highways, into new state buildings

Democrats in the Senate sped forward with a proposal to strip money from transportation funding and shift it to the state’s capital construction bank. The move met with adamant opposition from GOP senators.

Senate Bill 222, by Sen. Sue Windels, D-Arvada, and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, takes about $30 million out of highway funding and transfers the amount into constructing new state buildings. The measure was approved today by the Senate on a voice vote.

According to Windels, SB 222 adds 12 projects to the Colorado capital development list, along with numerous other maintenance-related projects statewide.

“This looks to me like a highway hit for the next few years,” said Sen. Ron May, R-Colorado Springs, during the floor debate on SB 222.

The bill's non-partisan fiscal assessment estimates that it will result in around $73 million less for highways each year. 

Windels countered that money guarantees are already in the state’s transportation coffers for highways, and her bill does nothing to “touch HUTF (Highway Users Tax Fund) or Senate Bill 1 dollars.”

Senate Bill 1, from 1997, requires that a set percentage of state sales tax revenue -- estimated to be derived from the sales of cars and other transportation-related items -- must be spent on highway projects. SB 222 would not take any of that baseline funding away. However, it would wipe out all additional dollars for roads.

Moreover, Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins, said the money may not be available for SB 222 since several other proposals are already trying to divert the money to other projects.

“We already have $700 million there for capital construction,” Johnson said. “People in my district care more about the inadequate roads in this state than a few state buildings that aren't as nice as everyone would like them to be.”