Representative Terri Carver
Improving Colorado’s ailing transportation infrastructure is one of the most urgent issues facing this legislature. Commute times have drastically increased along the Front Range, and the condition of vital roadways and bridges have greatly deteriorated across the state. As transportation is a core government function, the legislature must act to increase funding. However, while the legislature is in agreement that more funding is needed, the source of that revenue remains a fervent debate. The answer is simple – transportation funding is a top priority and should first come from existing state revenue.
Last session, the legislature passed a $27.1 billion state budget. The governor has proposed a $28.5 billion budget for this coming fiscal year. Yet, despite over a billion dollars more in proposed spending, many legislators are calling for significant tax increases to address Colorado’s infrastructure needs. It’s important to note that since 2009, Colorado’s General Fund has grown by more than 54 percent, approximately $3.7 billon. In those eight years, the legislature has directed general fund revenue to transportation only once, 2016, and it was a meager 1.5 percent.
With so little of Colorado’s current tax revenue going to transportation, legislators should be looking inward and discussing better ways to prioritize existing revenue. One option is a bill that I am sponsoring with Representative Perry Buck, which would raise $3.5 billion through a transportation bond. House Bill 1171, if approved by the voters in November, would direct 10 percent of state sales tax to service the bond over 20 years. The $3.5 billion would fund statewide transportation priority projects, and as the sales tax would increase with population, the revenue above the bond service would be available for road maintenance.
House Bill 1171 gives Colorado the opportunity to start on projects throughout the state, not only saving inflationary costs, but also providing critical relief to many congested and or unreliable roadways. Most importantly, this legislation permits transportation projects to move forward while forcing the legislature to work within its means and exercise greater fiscal responsibility with the taxpayers’ money.
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Sincerely,
Representative Terri Carver
