The House on Tuesday gave initial approval to a Republican-backed bill requiring RTD to contract out at least 50 percent of its bus service, a move Democrats called “welfare” for a handful of corporations.
Current law says that no more than 58 percent of the Regional Transportation District’s bus and other vehicle service can be contracted out privately, and the bill removes that ceiling and installs the 50 percent floor. That 50 percent minimum had been the law before 2007, when a legislature with both houses controlled by Democrats removed the floor and inserted the 58 percent ceiling.
Rep. Robert Ramirez, R-Westminster, sponsored the 50 percent minimum bill and said it would help a cash-strapped RTD meet its obligations to provide bus service.
RTD, which has taken a neutral stance on the bill, contracts out about 57 percent of its bus and vehicular service.
Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan, said the bill would help spur the economy.
“This is a great bill. This is a jobs bill,” Looper said.
Democrats argued the bill was an attempt to steer “corporate welfare” to a handful of contractors and that it removed RTD’s flexibility. Democrats asked what would happen when private contractors either didn’t work out or weren’t available to provide service.
House Minority Leader Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, offered an amendment requiring that all private contractors be U.S. companies.
One of the current private contractors with RTD is Veolia Transport, a multinational company with its headquarters in France.
“We should be spending our money on American companies, not French companies,” Pace said. “I’m concerned we are sending our taxpayer dollars overseas.”
But several Republicans questioned the wisdom of barring foreign contractors.
“These are Colorado citizens that work for an international company,” Looper said.
“Should we stop letting the Chinese buy our bonds?” asked Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose.
The amendment ultimately failed on a party-line vote.
Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, offered another amendment that Ramirez himself had offered in committee: to not install a floor or ceiling for private contracting and to let RTD decide how much it should rely on private contractors.
“Putting a minimum or maximum in law makes no sense,” Ferrandino said. “We should not micromanage the RTD board.”
But Republicans shot down the amendment on a voice vote.
The Republican-led House must approve the bill once more before it can move to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where it could die in committee.
Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com
