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'First step' highway funding bill advances in Colorado Senate without Democrats' support

SB 1, the major transportation effort of the 2018 session, passed out of its first committee on a partisan 3-2 vote.
David May, president of the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce, speaks Tuesday in favor of Senate Bill 1.

An effort to sell $3.5 billion in bonds to finance major Colorado highway projects is not the end of a years-long effort to increase road funding in this state, business groups and state Senate Republicans agreed Tuesday as a bill advanced to do just that.

But they called it a good start that would show voters that the Legislature is willing to put some skin in the game before citizens could be asked to do the same in the form of new taxes.

Still, the assurance that supporters of Senate Bill 1 would be willing eventually to look at other sources of revenue for transportation needs beyond the general fund was not enough to get Senate Democrats on board with the bill.

That was particularly true after lobbyists for several state departments came to the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday and said they are worried their funds eventually will get cut under the funding plan.

Read more at the Denver Business Journal: http://bit.ly/2DBECx5

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