h_tra_2016a_2016-01-28t09:58:49z0 Hearing Summary

Date: 01/28/2016

10:00 AM -- Briefing from the Joint Budget Committee pursuant to Joint Rule 25



Representative Hamner, chair of the Joint Budget Committee (JBC), introduced the JBC members and staff. Representative Rankin discussed the FY 2016-17 budget requests from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), which are listed in the staff budget briefing summary (Attachment A). He spoke about the Heat is On Program, which involves a statewide impaired driver public education campaign. He responded to questions from the committee about the department's funding requests and discussed issues in the news related to CDOT. Senator Steadman commented about federal appropriations for transportation projects. The committee discussed funding for the construction of bike trails across the state.



Attachment A can be viewed at Legislative Council.



10:10 AM



Discussion about Safe Routes to Schools funding and Great Outdoors Colorado funding continued. The conversation centered on the purposes for which various sources of federal funding may be used. Representative Rankin brought up a memorandum written by JBC staff concerning Senate Bill 09-228 triggers (Attachment B). He explained the components of SB 09-228 that impact transportation and capital, how the bill triggers transfers to the Highway Users Tax Fund and the Capital Construction Fund, how the transfers are determined, and the schedule of transfers. He discussed what the two SB 09-228 triggers mean today. Senator Steadman responded to questions about the table on page 4 of Attachment B. Representative Rankin spoke about three approaches discussed by the JBC that might be used to address the problem of uncertainty for transportation and capital funding.



15JtTrans0128AttachB.pdf



10:24 AM



The committee discussed the three options listed in the memorandum. Senator Steadman commented about historical precedent for changing current law to require statutory transfers for a specific number of years and a specific dollar amount, which is option three. He also spoke about the problems inherent in the system created by SB 09-228. Members of the JBC discussed their opinions about the various options in the memorandum.