Colorado’s aging bridges will get a boost thanks to a bill hurriedly passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Bill Ritter.
Yet, halfway through the session, we still can’t buy full-strength suds at the supermarket, and thousands of us are still driving around with our cellphones glued to our ears or texting as we drive.
At the midway mark, it would seem Colorado lawmakers at least have their priorities straight.
Rather than quickly pushing through a ban on driving while talking on a cellphone, the Democrats who control the Colorado statehouse instead focused on securing some type of new funding for the state’s deteriorating bridges. The bill, dubbed FASTER, hikes vehicle registration and rental car fees to raise $250 million a year to fortify the state’s 125 “structurally deficient” bridges and overpasses. It wasn’t overly popular (only one Republican voted for it), but it was necessary.
With nearly 400 bills still alive, we hope Democrats concentrate most on those that deal with Colorado’s budget and the economy.
Next week, lawmakers will learn just how bad this year’s budget shortfall is, and we’re guessing they may need to cut even more than the $630 million now projected.
Then, House lawmakers need to address Senate Bill 228, which would lift the state’s 6 percent spending cap. We have long been in favor of asking voters to untie the knots that restrict Colorado’s budget, and the spending cap is one of them.
However, we’re not sure lawmakers have the legal authority to do this without voter approval.
Plus, just lifting the cap without addressing Amendment 23, which increases K-12 funding based on inflation — which could skyrocket in coming years — doesn’t solve the state’s conflicting budget problems.
In an earlier editorial, we had hoped lawmakers could amend the cap. But rather than descend into partisan bickering over SB 228, we’d rather see a coalition cobbled together to address more than just the spending cap, and to ask voters for approval.
It won’t be easy, given last fall’s drubbing of Amendment 59, which addressed TABOR and Amendment 23, but it makes more sense than this piecemeal approach.
Other matters — selling full-strength beer in grocery stores (we’re for it) or banning hand-held cellphones while driving (we’re a grudging supporter because of all u ppl who txt whl drvng) — seem to pale in comparison.
