Funding Colorado highways, the maintenance of the existing highways and the building of new highways to satisfy the demands created by more people, and the funding of capital construction projects and maintenance for State institutions like Fort Lewis College and Western State Colorado University has always been one of the most important functions of State government.
I am running House Bill 16-1138, which is very important to ensure that the Colorado Department of Transportation and capital projects receive general fund money promised by Colorado law.
Here is a little background on recent highway and capital construction funding laws. In 2009, the State Legislature passed SB 228, which took the place of SB 97-01 and HB 02-1310. HB 1310 guaranteed that excess general fund reserves be transferred to the Highway Users Tax Fund and the Capital Construction Fund – two-thirds to highways and one-third to capital construction. The excess general fund reserve was any money left over after appropriations had been increased by 6 percent. A 4 percent reserve had to be fully funded. Also a payment of 10.355 percent of sales and use tax revenue required by SB 01 had to be made in full to the HUTF. Before 2009, hundreds of millions of dollars were transferred to highways and capital construction. Since the enactment of SB 228, not one dime of money has been transferred from the general fund to highways and capital construction until this year.
SB 228 repealed the automatic HB 1310 transfer to the CCF and HUTF and the SB 01 diversion to the HUTF. The bill also changed the year-over-year general fund appropriation growth limit to equal 5 percent of Colorado personal income. SB 228 requires a five-year block of transfers from the general fund to the HUTF and the CCF beginning in fiscal year 2015-16 and continuing through the 2019-20 fiscal year. The amount to be transferred annually is supposed to be $200 million to the HUTF and $50 million to the CCF. However, if during any one of these years, there is a TABOR refund, the transfer will be reduced in that year by either 50 percent or 100 percent, depending on the amount of the refund. This is reasonable since a TABOR refund will reduce the money available in the general fund.
What my bill, HB 1138, does is that for each state fiscal year that the required transfers are reduced or eliminated, another year of transfers to the CCF and HUTF is added. Therefore, there will be five fiscal years with the full statutory transfers to the funds, regardless of the number of fiscal years that it takes to do so.
I believe that my bill is reasonable. One would think that highway and construction funding would not be a partisan issue, but HB 1138 has been sent to the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee which is known as the “kill” committee. Our highways and buildings are falling apart and I will continue to fight for adequate funding.
J. Paul Brown represents House District 59 in Colorado’s General Assembly. The district encompasses La Plata, Archuleta, San Juan, Ouray and Hinsdale counties and part of Gunnison County. Reach him at jpaul.brown.house@state.co.us
