Quick update on taking water out of the San Luis Valley. Some bills about transpo that may come up in the next Assembly session. A reminder (with tips) to watch interim committees in general.
An update to the attempts to move water out of San Luis Valley.
I've written in the past about attempts to take water out of the San Luis Valley and how close those have come to reality.
I think, I hope, that now there is an agreement among the local entities in the valley trying to get the water out will be more difficult.**
Time will tell, but there is at least an official group and an agreement.
More in the story.
**In talking with locals I have heard some skepticism about how effective this intergovernmental agreement will be. The essence of the skepticism runs along the lines of "there are no friends if the price gets high enough".
https://coloradosun.com/2023/10/09/san-luis-valley-officials-create-regional-board-to-vet-water-export-projects/
What has the Assembly’s Transportation Legislation Review Committee been up to?
It started with CPR's article about how Assembly Democrats will run a bill about increased fees for heavier vehicles, and it turned into a look at some other bills that you might want to be aware of (along with a lesson on watching interim committees).
I came across the CPR article linked first below about the same time as it flared up on social media. I'll leave it to you to read the article, but the gist is that Assembly Democrats are going to run a bill ostensibly about safety, but its effect is to make people with heavier vehicles pay more to register said vehicle.*
The essence of the idea (see the fiscal note linked second below) is to create an Enterprise, a government run "business" that would collect fees from heavy vehicles and then use that money to pay for road improvements to make it safer for bikes and pedestrians as well as offering grants for same. See screenshot 1 (from the fiscal note) attached.
So what does the tax (oops, "fee") schedule look like? I took a screencap from the fiscal note of the schedule and attached it as screenshot 2. I took a quick minute to google up some random vehicle weights so we could put numbers to things and I wrote those in at the side.
As my own senator (Byron Pelton) commented during the committee hearing (committee audio linked third below), I was surprised at the number of vehicles that will have to pay the fee. Cars and trucks that I would not consider especially heavy and dangerous would nonetheless get tagged.
Another interesting wrinkle, look where electric vehicles land. They are heavier and thus end up paying more than similar combustion vehicles.
While I was looking up this bill, it got me curious so I looked over what else our Interim Transpo Committee was up to, so I thought I'd touch on those bills briefly.**
The first is titled Bill 6 and it's linked fourth below. I also took a screenshot of the fiscal note's summary and attached (see screenshot 3).
I have written in the past about CDOT's secret no-bidding contracting process for large projects (and about their lack of transparency re. same). This proposed bill would've taken a chunk out of that by raising the limit at which CDOT must get a public bid on work.
I spoke with the sponsor (Sen B Pelton--my senator) about this bill because it was one I wanted to support, but he told me that he pulled it prior to the hearing. I was disappointed (the reason for pulling it according to Sen Pelton is that some local contractors didn't like it--it would've just pushed CDOT to do more of their own work and would not have resulted in more work for actual local people). Sen Pelton said he may tinker with the bill and try again. I hope he does and asked to be updated so I could support it.
We need to do something to get CDOT to open up the bidding to more local and/or in state contractors and we need to do all we can to get them to be more transparent in the process.
The second, and last bill I wanted to cover is linked fifth below.
This one's all about railroad safety. Who could object to that?
Well, I hope by now that you've learned the lesson that when the Assembly Democrats talk about safety, that you should be wary.
I'll skip a lot of detail and point you to screenshot #4 attached which comes from the fiscal note. There are two things to consider so I did them in different colors.
Read the bit in red. This bill is a boon to unions and greases the skids for them. Ostensibly were talking safety here (and I need to acknowledge here that railroad operators are not blameless when it comes to dirty dealing with unions), but we all know that this has the potential to lend itself to union abuse.
Perhaps more worrisome is the bit in blue. I don't know if you've been watching the news, but there's a lot of talk lately about Front Range Rail: a passenger rail line basically following I-25 and connecting the major cities with each other.
If you have seen the stories, you'll remember how much it will cost and how the funding is quite a problem to solve.
Golly, a bill that fines railroads if a union member complains and then shuttles that money over to help fund Front Range Rail? I don't see any perverse incentives for anyone in this bill.
I'll keep my eyes on these and update if I hear anything (especially the fees on large vehicles and anything related to bidding at CDOT). I'm sure as we get into the Assembly session there'll be updates and chances to speak up.
*This fee would apply only in the 12 most populous counties--rural areas, you're excused. For now.
**See the post immediately following this one for a quick explainer on where and how to find the various interim committees so you can follow them.
https://www.cpr.org/2023/09/29/colorado-pedestrian-safety-suv-truck-owners/
https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/fiscal_note_bill_1_-_vulnerable_road_user_protection_enterprise.pdf
https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00327/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20231003/-1/14829
https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/fiscal_note_bill_6_-_cost_threshold_for_cdot_public_project_bidding_requirement.pdf
https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/fiscal_note_bill_5_-_railroad_safety_requirements.pdf
Pay attention to interim committees!
In the previous post, I shared what the Colorado General Assembly's Transportation Legislation Review Committee has been up to.
I am not sure if you're aware, but there are several committees to the General Assembly that meet between sessions (either because it's a committee that meets year 'round or because it's an interim committee that considers ideas for bills in the coming session).
The committees themselves are found at the link below and I took a screengrab of all the committees that meet between Assembly sessions and attached.
Since these meetings are less well known, it's often easier to get in to speak. It also gives your voice less of a chance of being diluted.
If you're interested, go to the link below, pick an issue close to your heart and check out the schedule. I did so for the transportation committee and circled the link then attached it as another screenshot.
