Legislator 'working sick'

Legislator 'working sick'

Feb. 6, 2001

Life in the Legislature
By State Representative Mark Larson

I remember as if it were yesterday when Chief Clerk J.R. Rodrigue made the comment, "We work sick around here." This statement was in reply to a new legislator's query about what happens when a member becomes ill.

With a 120-day statutorily mandated session, the pace does not let up from the beginning until sine die. The legislature reminds me of a first-grade class where children pass colds, flu and other assorted delights among themselves so that someone is guaranteed to be sick almost all of the time. I have been fortunate in my two-plus years with only a temporary visitation of the punies. I guess it was just my turn.

Friday I pulled myself into the Supershuttle, endured the trip to the airport with my East Indian driver who kept beat to a song on the radio with his foot on the accelerator, only to find that my flight had been canceled. Apparently the Captain called in sick with the same crud I have. So, rather than wait another five and a half hours to catch the 8:55 to Cortez, I made the decision to stay in Denver. I will miss the quiet Sunday morning coffee, paper reading and conversation with my lovely bride. Rural legislators indeed pay a higher price for public service due to the airlines and absence from family and home.

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The so-called Corridor highway projects (aka "Seventh Pot Projects") got a shot in the arm this week. The Joint Budget Committee is running a bill (HB01-1267) that allows utilization of the Controlled Maintenance Trust Fund dollars to continue the corridor projects. This one time transfer of funds to the corridor projects will be repaid the very next fiscal year out of capital construction dollars. This fiscal maneuvering was made necessary by two separate occurrences.

First, the legislature allowed current year TABOR surplus repayment to the voters to be paid out of the next year TABOR surplus. HB98-1414 was an ill-conceived measure that allowed a whopping $548 million to be diverted to capital construction projects. These legacy projects were the result of term limits and long time legislators wanting to fund a legacy project for which they could claim credit.

Second, Amendment 23 (the school funding constitutional amendment) required TABOR surplus dollars to be placed in a trust fund to assure that education needs were met over the next several years.

The combination of Amendment 23 and HB98-1414 caused for a one-year elimination of SB97-1 transfers out of the general fund into the Highway Users Trust Fund (HUTF). Senate Bill 97-1 said that it was reasonable to assume that 10 percent of all sales and use tax dollars were generated by highway related sales such a car batteries, tires, automobiles, etc. The idea was to bolster depleted highway funding by obligating highway related sales tax dollars for highway construction, specifically the corridor projects.

One of the provisions of SB97-1 required that these funds not be transferred to the Highway Users Trust Fund if certain funding levels (called "triggers") were not maintained in capital construction. With the combination of Amendment 23 and HB98-1414, these triggers were initiated and funding for corridor projects went away. It is important to note here that SB97-1 funding was essential to securing Transportation Revenue Anticipated Notes (TRANS) bonding. Accordingly, all corridor projects would be delayed for that one fiscal year.

These delays would impact the Interstate 25 southeast corridor project and twenty-five other corridor projects, including our own Highway 550 and Highway 160 projects. Delaying any of the corridor projects means a push back on all project completion dates, including many other projects not on the corridor projects list.

Our highway system has undergone far too many years of inadequate funding. The Joint Budget Committee, CDOT, the Office of State Policy and Budgeting and the Governor, all recognize the impact such a delay would have on our highway infrastructure. This one time utilization of reserve controlled maintenance funds seems an appropriate "emergency" to justify such extraordinary action. I will be monitoring the repayment of this debt very closely.

For more information, click on < http://www.LarsonColorado.com >.

Capital phone: (303) 866-2914; Capital fax: (303) 866-2218; e-mail: mlarson@sni.net.