DENVER—Some big proposals are just now making their way through the Legislature as it begins the last full week of the 2008 session on Monday, including a $25 increase in vehicle registration fees and changing the state’s strict budget limits.
A proposal by House Speaker Andrew Romanoff is aimed at ending a conflict between one constitutional amendment that limits overall state spending and another that requires increased spending for public schools.
Senate Joint Resolution 31, up for its first hearing on Tuesday, would end tax surplus refunds after 2011 in exchange for removing the amendment that requires more money for public schools.
Some in the GOP, the minority party in both houses, oppose the idea and plan to introduce a solution of their own.
The hike in car and truck registration fees would raise an estimated $300 million a year for highways and bridges. Other ideas to pay for roads have gone nowhere since the session started in January.
On Monday, a Senate committee will hold the first hearing on a proposal to raise the $5 bet limit in blackjack and poker games and on slot machines at Colorado casinos.
The sponsor, Democratic Sen. Ron Tupa of Boulder, hasn’t said what the new limit would be.
Doubling it to $10 would bring in an estimated $13.7 million in extra tax revenue in the first year. A $100 limit is predicted to bring an additional $28.6 million.
The budget fix and the increase in vehicle fees would first have to win the backing of two-thirds of the House and Senate and then go before voters for final approval. The car registration increase wouldn’t have to be approved by voters.
Lawmakers must finish all their work by May 7 but have managed to wrap up a few days early in the past few years.
Also this week:
— Gov. Bill Ritter plans to sign next year’s $17.6 billion budget on Monday.
— On Tuesday, a House committee will vote on a bill allowing a man to stop making support payments for a child if DNA testing determines he is not the father.
— A House committee will consider asking voters whether to deny bail for illegal immigrants suspected of a serious felony or driving under the influence.
