Front Range Passenger Rail District Efficiency

To improve the operational efficiency of the front range passenger rail district (district):

• Section 1 of the bill replaces modifies the requirement that the board of the district (board) hold annual joint meetings with the transportation commission, the board of directors of the I-70 coalition or any successor entity, and the board of directors of the regional transportation district with a requirement that to require the board to provide an annual update, which may be provided by district staff, and may be provided electronically to each of those entities at the meeting and to allow the meeting to be held in a manner that allows members of the board and the entity it is meeting with to attend the meeting by electronic means ;
• Section 2 eliminates the requirement that board directors appointed by transportation planning organizations be confirmed by the senate; clarifies when the terms of board members begin and end; and prohibits an advisory nonvoting member of the board from participating in an executive session if the board determines that a particular matter to be discussed in the executive session concerns the appointing authority for the advisory nonvoting member and should not be discussed when the advisory nonvoting member is present;
• Section 3 establishes that the board exercises its powers by a majority vote of a quorum of its voting directors rather than by a majority vote of a quorum of its total membership and, in conjunction with section 4, clarifies that the board has discretion to delegate its power to enter into contracts and agreements other than intergovernmental agreements and contracts for public-private partnerships to the officers and employees of the district; and
• Section 5 changes the name of a state-required district plan for developing rail service to avoid potential confusion that could be caused by similarity between the current name of the plan and the name of a federally required plan.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)