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Transportation Funding Showdown Continues Between Lawmakers And Initiative Backers
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Transportation Funding Showdown Continues Between Lawmakers And Initiative Backers

By: Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The standoff over Colorado’s road‑funding initiative will continue after supporters declined state lawmakers’ request to withdraw the measure, while both sides signaled they are still willing to pursue a broader agreement ahead of the fall deadline. Initiative No. 175, backed by the coalition Restore Our Roads, would require that all transportation-related revenue be used exclusively for building and repairing roads and bridges, improving safety, conducting transportation planning and engineering, and supporting Colorado State Patrol operations. A petition for the measure received over 180,000 signatures and is currently being reviewed by the Secretary of State’s Office. To qualify for the November ballot, just over 124,000 of ...
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Colorado Road Funding Initiative Nears November Ballot After 180,000 Signatures Submitted
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The Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Road Funding Initiative Nears November Ballot After 180,000 Signatures Submitted

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Gazette Organizers of a proposal seeking to dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars to road construction and maintenance have submitted signatures to state election officials in their campaign to put the initiative on the ballot this November. If officials certified the signatures as sufficiently meeting the threshold — organizers need 124,000 to be valid — the battle shifts to persuading voters to embrace or reject the ballot question. The measure, Initiative No. 175, would require that all transportation-related revenue be used exclusively for building and repairing roads and bridges, improving safety, conducting transportation planning and engineering, and supporting Colorado State Patrol operations. The battle over road funding ha...
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Where did the road money go?: Examining Colorado transportation claims
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Approved, Colorado Accountability Project, Commentary, State

Where did the road money go?: Examining Colorado transportation claims

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project HB26-1430 (see the first link below for some earlier context) is the Colorado Democrats’ measure to kneecap Initiative 175, the measure that would enforce that road dollars actually go to building roads. The measure passed the legislature with some last-minute fussing, and included some new amendments. The Sum and Substance article linked second below details how things went down in the last days of the legislative session. The purpose of this post is not to look at HB26-1430 in its final form or how that will affect (or not) Initiative 175. There’s more coming in the saga and I’ll hold off on updates til something concrete pops up. No, I wanted to share a couple of quotes from Democrat politicians appearing in the Su...
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Who controls CoCo: The governance architecture Polis leaves behind
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Who controls CoCo: The governance architecture Polis leaves behind

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Sal Pace knew the project before he ran it. In October 2025, the Front Range Passenger Rail District named Pace its first General Manager.  The district is a nominally independent, special taxing district created by the Colorado legislature in 2021 to plan, fund, and build passenger rail along the Front Range. Governor Jared Polis issued a personal statement praising the hire. According to FRPRD's hiring announcement, Pace had co-chaired the Governor's own Transition Committee to advance rail initiatives.  The board chair responsible for evaluating Pace's performance is John Putnam — a Polis appointee. That is one loop. There are several more. CoCo's governance structure runs from the district level ...
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When the people vote, the majority should not pre-load a workaround
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

When the people vote, the majority should not pre-load a workaround

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is supposed to be a representative government, not a manager class that “handles” voters the way an accountant handles a problem line item. Yet that is exactly what HB26-1430 represents: a legislature preparing a conditional “counterpunch” that activates only if voters approve Initiative 175 this November. Reasonable people can disagree about Initiative 175. That is not the point. The point is this: the majority is building an escape hatch before the people have even spoken. That posture is a warning sign in any republic, because it reveals what leadership thinks about consent. What HB26-1430 is, in plain English Initiative 175 would amend the Colorado Constitution to redirect certain transportation-rela...
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Democrats Advance Bill Sidestepping Citizen Led Push To Prioritize Roads And Bridges
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Democrats Advance Bill Sidestepping Citizen Led Push To Prioritize Roads And Bridges

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The battle over road funding intensified at the state Capitol this week, where legislators are seeking to negate an initiative that supporters say is sorely needed but which critics insist would divert money from other state priorities. Supporters of the initiative questioned the timing of new legislation that emerged in the waning days of the legislative session. They also wondered about how much feedback sponsors sought, insinuating the House bill was crafted without input from the road construction industry. At stake is roughly $700 million in state dollars. Introduced last week, House Bill 1430 would take effect only ifInitiative No. 175 passes in November. The initiative would require that transportation-...
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Rail plan on the brink: Court ruling and ballot fight could kill funding
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Rail plan on the brink: Court ruling and ballot fight could kill funding

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice On April 29, Governor Jared Polis declared in a press release that Colorado had struck a deal to bring passenger rail to the Front Range — three daily round trips between Denver and Fort Collins, launching in 2029, with no new taxes.  "At nearly half the cost of previous studies," he wrote, "this agreement proves that through partnership and collaboration, passenger rail service across the Front Range is not a far-off dream, but a reality." The day before, RTD's board voted to authorize $5.58 million from its FasTracks savings account and support the project's preliminary funding framework. The term sheet itself was executed April 30 between the Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CTIO), a government-owned ...
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