In this space on April 21 I wrote a post titled “Widening I-25 – Swinging for the Fence.” I explained a funding option called TRANS Bonds that would fund billions in transportation projects in Colorado without raising taxes.
With the help of Senator John Kefalas of Fort Collins, we managed to get the bill through the Colorado Senate by a vote of 18-17. Unfortunately, it died in the Colorado House’s State Affairs Committee, which is known as a ‘kill committee,’ a committee legislative leaders use to stop bills they don’t like from reaching the floor for debate.
It was a long shot. While the outcome is disappointing, it wasn’t a jolting surprise.
What was surprising was the opposition by the Governor and CDOT. Both opposed the idea of bringing TRANS Bonds to the voters this fall. Yet both are on record pledging their support for funding the widening of I-25 and both lack a plan of their own to address the transportation funding needs in the state.
We’ll continue to work on options to fund I-25 and will begin to ramp up the pressure on the Legislature, Governor and CDOT to develop a clear and specific plan to fix north I-25.
In the meantime, thank you for reaching out to legislators. State leaders know that we’re serious about this problem and expect them to move past the empty rhetoric and get on with actually fixing the problem.