{"id":92,"date":"2026-05-07T19:34:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T19:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=92"},"modified":"2026-05-07T19:34:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T19:34:53","slug":"colorado-dems-propose-bill-to-counter-mandated-road-funding-ballot-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=92","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Dems propose bill to counter mandated road-funding ballot initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This story was first published at Colorado Newsline.<\/em><\/p>\n

DENVER<\/strong> | Colorado Democrats want to pass a bill in the final days of the state legislative session to offset a potential constitutional amendment on this year\u2019s ballot that would divert revenue to maintain and repair the state\u2019s roads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lawmakers warn that the initiative would reroute money from priorities like public education and healthcare amid a difficult budget reality. The Legislature recently approved a state budget that had to close a $1.5 billion deficit, and future years are not expected to be easier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

They say the authors of the ballot initiative are telling voters it would fund roads without raising taxes, but that funding would actually come at the cost of other state programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you ask the voters, \u2018Would you like to fix roads but defund public education? Would you like to fix roads but impact the ability to seek healthcare in your community?\u2019 Then that\u2019s something we have to pay attention to,\u201d said Rep. Andy Boesenecker, a Fort Collins Democrat. \u201cBut that\u2019s not the question they\u2019re asking voters. The question they\u2019re asking voters is, \u2018For no additional dollars to you, would you like to repair roads in our community?\u2019 Who wouldn\u2019t say yes to that? I think it\u2019s our obligation as a Legislature to be truthful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initiative 175, whose backers are collecting petition signatures to get it on the November ballot, would direct existing taxes and fees related to gas and car use to fund road repairs and \u201croad transportation,\u201d to the tune of about $700 million annually. It is backed by the Restore Our Roads Coalition and funded by the Colorado Construction Industry Coalition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The initiative specifically concerns taxes on gas and car sales and the sales tax related to car \u201cparts, equipment, materials and accessories.\u201d The hundreds of millions of dollars from these sources would automatically head towards repairs for roads and bridges, driver safety, the Colorado State Patrol and road engineering. Right now, some of that revenue heads toward a mix of transportation projects, like transit systems and electric vehicle infrastructure. Initiative 175 would shift the money entirely towards road construction.<\/p>\n

That mandated spending could further restrict budget flexibility and \u201chandcuff\u201d the state to long-term spending commitments, Democratic lawmakers say.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had an extra $700 million to fund transit in our state, we probably would have used it this last budget cycle to not cut (Medicaid) reimbursement rates,\u201d Boesenecker said.<\/p>\n

75% of signatures gathered<\/h4>\n

A\u00a0nonpartisan fiscal analysis\u00a0of the initiative predicts that the state would need to spend about $2 billion a year on roads if it passes, including about $540 million from the state\u2019s general fund, which is where most of Colorado\u2019s discretionary spending comes from. It could also draw in money from parts of the state budget that are not directly related to road repairs, such as cash funds for pedestrian infrastructure, law enforcement training and emergency medical services, according to the fiscal analysis, though initiative authors say that\u2019s not their intent.<\/p>\n

The measure proposed by Democrats,\u00a0House Bill 26-1430,\u00a0would effectively offset state spending under Initiative 175 if it passes by lowering that state\u2019s road usage fee, gas tax, special fuel excise tax and some vehicle registration fees. That reduced revenue would create more general fund spending space under the Taxpayer\u2019s Bill of Rights, which caps how much the state can spend before returning money to taxpayers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Initiative backers say Colorado\u2019s roads are overdue for more investment. Last year, the libertarian think tank Reason\u00a0ranked\u00a0Colorado 43rd in the country for its road conditions, and even lower for rural roads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBy moving this bill now, legislators are telling Coloradans their votes don\u2019t matter,\u201d Tony\u00a0Milo, the president and CEO of the Colorado Contractors Association, said in a statement. \u201cIf politicians can rewrite the rules to get around a citizen led road funding measure before it even reaches the ballot, they\u2019re not just undermining transportation policy, they\u2019re overriding the will of the voters and setting a dangerous precedent for every future statewide campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initiative supporters say they have collected about 75% of the required signatures with a deadline at the end of the month.<\/p>\n

Groups including the Bell Policy Center, Colorado Center on Law and Policy, Sierra Club Colorado and Colorado Education Association are against the initiative.\u00a0<\/p>\n

HB-1430 has its first committee hearing Tuesday. The legislative session ends on May 13.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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This story was first published at Colorado Newsline. DENVER | Colorado Democrats want to pass a bill in the final days of the state legislative session to offset a potential constitutional amendment on this year\u2019s ballot that would divert revenue to maintain and repair the state\u2019s roads.\u00a0 Lawmakers warn that the initiative would reroute money […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[258],"tags":[56,259,260,261],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colorado-news","tag-colorado-democrats","tag-house-bill-26-1430","tag-initiative-175","tag-rep-andy-boesenecker"],"yoast_head":"\nColorado Dems propose bill to counter mandated road-funding ballot initiative - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=92\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colorado Dems propose bill to counter mandated road-funding ballot initiative - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This story was first published at Colorado Newsline. DENVER | Colorado Democrats want to pass a bill in the final days of the state legislative session to offset a potential constitutional amendment on this year\u2019s ballot that would divert revenue to maintain and repair the state\u2019s roads.\u00a0 Lawmakers warn that the initiative would reroute money […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=92\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-07T19:34:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7d13990b7d82a6e42db0c4b0c33c8537.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"833\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=92#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=92\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\"},\"headline\":\"Colorado Dems propose bill to counter mandated road-funding ballot initiative\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-07T19:34:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=92\"},\"wordCount\":789,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=92#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/7d13990b7d82a6e42db0c4b0c33c8537.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"colorado democrats\",\"House Bill 26-1430\",\"Initiative 175\",\"Rep. 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