Gov. Bill Ritter has extended the life of his “blue ribbon” Transportation Finance and Implementation Panel for another year.
This time, we’re told, he’s promised not to ignore its recommendations.
OK, so that’s a snarky comment, but we’re still smarting from Ritter’s decision to back away from efforts in this year’s legislature to increase transportation funding.
Despite his fellow Democrats controlling the House 40-25 and Senate 20-15, Ritter tried to blame Republican opposition for the failure.
“There are a lot of Democrats, and they have every right to feel and think this way, who know that they’re freshmen, they’re incumbents, they’re in districts that for a long time have been Republican districts. And then they have to go and get beat over the head by a Republican opponent saying that they unilaterally increased fees for transportation funding without us having conducted the necessary education campaign,” Ritter told reporters.
Walking away from the issue prompted heavy criticism. To his credit, Ritter seems to have listened to those critics and sounded a more positive note Wednesday in Vail, where he told the summer conference of Colorado Counties Inc. that he would not only extend the life of his transportation panel but expand its mission.
“I have charged them with developing a broad public-education campaign and with crafting specific funding proposals that we can present to the 67th General Assembly in January,” the governor said.
Of course, last year’s panel did offer a menu of four funding options, ranging from $500 million a year, which is labeled as the bare minimum needed to maintain existing roads and bridges, to $1 billion, $1.5 billion and $2 billion a year. However, offering four choices, instead of fighting vigorously for one, may have diffused the impact of the panel’s report.
We do think there’s merit in a public education campaign, but we believe that Ritter and key lawmakers need to lead it and not just lean on the transportation panel. Such leadership could make transportation a key issue in this year’s legislative elections in the hope that the 2009 General Assembly may finally be roused from its torpor.
We urge the transportation panel to recommend at least a $1.5 billion annual funding increase, with some of the new money shared with counties and cities. That’s the minimum needed to address the alarming backlog of highway and bridge maintenance along with at least a modest program of new construction to catch up on some of the growth that already has occurred in the state.
Any program of that size will involve tax increases that will have to be approved by Colorado voters in 2009. If Ritter and his transportation panel show bold leadership, we hope business, labor, civic groups, local government leaders — and voters — rally to that cause.
