By Rep. Scott Bottoms | Complete Colorado
A friend told me about a recent experience at a fast-food restaurant. He arrived to pick up and pay for his order, and the cashier made a point of twice pointing him to the tip jar. My friend asked me, “Why should I pay him extra when I pick up a sack? Doesn’t everyone understand that I’ve already paid for that?” It’s a fair question, and one that springs to mind with Colorado House Bill 1303, which recently passed out of the House of Representatives. The legislation will create yet another “enterprise” (a government-run business designed to circumvent the taxpayer refunds normally paired with overcollected revenues under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights). It will be funded with a new fee impose on insurance companies that issue policies to Colorado drivers.
This new enterprise is expected to collect $32 million in its first two years of operation, with the costs inevitably passed along to every Colorado driver. Under the direction of the existing Transportation Commission (comprised of 11 members appointed by the Governor), the enterprise will spend most of its income on grants for projects that reduce collisions between vehicles and bicyclists, while the rest goes toward reducing vehicle-wildlife collisions.
Gee, what a novel idea – spending transportation money to make driving in the state safer! A cynic might ask, “isn’t that the kind of thing we’re already paying gas taxes and vehicle registration fees for? Don’t we already fork over money for better and safer roads virtually every week? Why are Democrats now forcing us to pay even more?” This bill is the transportation tip jar.