No Deal on Transportation Funding in Colorado

Although both parties and Gov. John Hickenlooper had said repeatedly that fixing Colorado’s roads was a priority, there was no agreement on how to fill the $800 million annual shortfall identified by Colorado's Department of Transportation.

The idea of raising Colorado’s fuel taxes for the first time in more than two decades — an issue that has proved divisive in many states — wasn’t seriously considered, but the four-month legislative session was still a bust for transportation. In the final days, Democrats rejected a $3.5 billion bond proposal backed by Republicans, after GOP lawmakers turned down a $700 million, five-year Democratic plan that would have required circumventing Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights rules.