house bill 1242
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Senate sends transportation funding bill to the governor
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None of the Republicans in the state House of Representatives supported it earlier in the day, but Senate Republicans collected a unanimous vote Tuesday night to send a bill to the governor that will eventually put almost $3 billion into the state’s beleaguered transportation system. Senate Bill 1 puts $495 million into roads, bridges and…
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Grantham calls out Hickenlooper for failing to bulk up budget for roads
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Senate President Kevin Grantham weighed in on the governor’s budget requests Thursday, even though Gov. John Hickenlooper hasn’t yet presented them the legislature budget writers, the Joint Budget Committee. That’ll happen later this month. Grantham, a Republican from Canon City, said the “most obvious problem” was the governor’s failure to carve out any money from…
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Updated: House Democrats say Colorado business groups still eyeing a tax hike for roads
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Update: Kelly Brough, president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, provided Colorado Politics a statement Friday morning: “We know transportation is already costing Coloradans billions of dollars a year – $6.8 billion to be exact. That’s what we lose to our deficient roads in lost time, damage to vehicles and lost gas…
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Insights: In Colorado, bipartisanship found a way forward
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With the the grease fire that is Republicans’ too-big-to-fail promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, it’s time to remind D.C. how the Colorado legislature got things done this year, from healthcare to switchblades. The state Constitution forces the legislature to balance its budget each year, that’s a big part of it. Moreover, Republicans and Democrats…
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Sen. Ray Scott calls for tax on bicycles to help pay for Colorado roads
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Senate Republicans in the last legislative session wouldn’t allow any new taxes to pay for roads, but Sen. Ray Scott has found one he can embrace: taxing bicycles. Scott, an influential Republican from Grand Junction, first made the announcement on Facebook Wednesday morning, atop a Washington Times story about Oregon becoming the first to implement…
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On the 2017 legislative session, transportation lobbyist sees hope in the wreckage
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Sandra Hagen Solin, spokesperson for the Fix Colorado Roads economic-development coalition, worked the legislative trenches all year to bring Capitol leaders to a place where they could make a deal to pass a major transportation funding proposal. After months of back and forth, leadership this session brought out House Bill 1242, which failed spectacularly. Critics…
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New highway bill already has one influential critic: Denver chamber
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This just came over the transom from the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce: The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce announced its position on one bill working its way through the Colorado General Assembly. The Chamber opposes: The chamber is of course a key barometer of the state’s business community — which badly wants better roads…
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That Grantham speech on doomed transportation bill may haunt the Capitol
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The session’s unloved grand bipartisan transportation measure, House Bill 1242, is dead, but the closing remarks — you might say the sickbed epitaph — delivered for the bill by Republican sponsor and Senate President Kevin Grantham are worth revisiting, especially given that, in the last week, and with a little more than a week left…
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Give us the news: Lynchpin hospital fee bill still under wraps
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“Senate Bill 267 will be laid over,” said Appropriations Committee Chair Kevin Lundberg. “We’ll begin now with…” But the room wasn’t listening to him anymore. Nearly all of the reporters and lobbyists sitting arrayed before the committee members rose from their chairs at once and headed to the door. “Thank you for coming, everyone,” joked…
