House Republicans hijacked a routine spending bill Wednesday to force a vote on the governor’s request to boost road funding by $80 million this year.
The effort – led by several Republicans who opposed Referendum C – failed 29-36. But it sidelined the House for more than an hour as lawmakers bickered over how Referendum C money should be spent.
One Republican – Rep. Dale Hall of Greeley, who serves on the Joint Budget Committee – joined the Democrats in defeating the amendment.
“This is an important opportunity for us to say to the voters of the state of Colorado we’ll keep our faith with the promises in the ‘blue book,’ ” said Rep. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, sponsor of the failed amendment.
King, an opponent of Referendum C, said his amendment would fulfill the spending plan described in the voter’s guide, or the “blue book,” sent to voters before the Nov. 1 election.
Democrats countered that the Republicans were misleading by misreading.
The blue book said that the state planned to spend the extra money raised by Referendum C on public schools, higher education, health-care programs, transportation projects and pension plans for police officers and firefighters.
Democrats said there’s already more than enough money going to roads – an extra $300 million this year due to the passage of Referendum C and a total of nearly $1 billion over the next five years.
And they dismissed the Republican effort as a ploy to make Democrats appear as if they were not concerned about road funding.
“The difference between a yes and a no on this amendment is not the difference between those who care about transportation and those who don’t,” said House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver.
“All of us care about transportation funding. All of us have constituents who need to drive to work or to school.”
Rep. Tom Plant, D-Nederland, chairman of the Joint Budget Committee, said the state has rising costs in other programs – education, health care for the poor and prisons.
“There is not enough money to meet of all the needs,” Plant said.
In fact, there’s not even enough money to fix the state’s roads. Lawmakers said the state needs at least $9 billion – more than double the amount the state currently projects it will collect under Referendum C.
“How are we going to meet those needs?” Plant said. “How are we going to come up with $9 billion? I have no idea. I have no clue. I have no idea. That may be a problem that we’re going to have to address over the next 10 years, and it’s going to have to be addressed by something that’s going raise a hell of a lot more money than we’re going to be generating right now with what went to the ballot.”
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
