Date: 05/04/2015

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB15-272

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON STATE, VETERANS, & MILITARY AFFAIRS

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Postpone Senate Bill 15-272 indefinitely. The moti
Refer Senate Bill 15-272 to the Committee on Finan		PASS
FAIL



01:36 PM -- SB15-272

Representative DelGrosso, prime sponsor, presented Senate Bill 15-272. This bill allows the state to borrow money for specific transportation projects by issuing Transportation Revenue Anticipation Notes (TRANs). In addition, the bill modifies the block of statutory transfers from the General Fund to the Highway Users Tax Fund (HUTF) and the Capital Construction Fund (CCF) pursuant to Senate Bill 09-228. Finally, the bill makes two changes to the law governing transportation contracts. Each of these are described below.

The bill is referred to voters at the November 3, 2015, election. It requires the approval of a majority of voters to become law.

Transportation Revenue Anticipation Notes. The bill allows the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to issue TRANs worth up to $3.5 billion and carrying a maximum repayment cost of $5.5 billion in principal and interest. The bill specifies a list of transportation projects that may receive TRANs proceeds; until these projects are fully funded, no other project may receive funding from this source.

Issuance of new TRANs may begin upon the completion of repayment of previous TRANs authorized in 1999, expected to occur in FY 2016-17. The TRANs authorized in the bill carry a maximum repayment term of 20 years. TRANs proceeds would be exempt from restrictions on multi-year debt and state spending in TABOR.

Senate Bill 09-228 transfers. The bill lengthens the five-year block of statutory transfers from the General Fund to the HUTF and the CCF, in the event that one or more year(s) of transfers are reduced or not made because of revenue collected in excess of the TABOR limit. For each year in which transfers are reduced or not made, an additional year of transfers is required, in which 2.0 percent of General Fund revenue must be transferred to the HUTF and 1.0 percent of General Fund revenue must be transferred to the CCF. As in current law, transfers created in the bill may be reduced or not made because of the size of the TABOR surplus. The schedule of transfers is extended until five years of full transfers have taken place.

The bill also broadens the permitted uses of SB 09-228 transfers to the HUTF, allowing transferred funds to be used for general highway operations and maintenance in addition to projects in the Strategic Transportation Project Investment Program.

Transportation contracts. The bill requires that, for design-build contracts with an estimated completed cost of less than $75 million, the CDOT not penalize a bidding contractor for inexperience in design-build contracts. The CDOT must publish a copy of a chosen contractor's final winning proposal on its website, and must redact financial and proprietary information from the copy. The CDOT must communicate to a bidding contractor that the winning proposal will be made public.


01:46 PM

Representative DelGrosso responded to questions from the committee about the bill.

01:50 PM -- David May, representing the Fix I-25 Business Alliance, testified in support of the bill. Mr. May distributed and read a written statement (Attachment A). He responded to questions from the committee.

15HouseState0504AttachA.pdf15HouseState0504AttachA.pdf

01:54 PM -- Tony Milo, representing the Colorado Contractors' Association and the American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado, testified in opposition to the bill. Mr. Milo expressed concern that the bill could remove up to 14 percent of CDOT's road and bridge maintenance budget. He responded to questions from the committee.

01:58 PM -- Barb Kirkmeyer, representing the Weld County Board of County Commissioners, testified in support of the bill. Commissioner Kirkmeyer expressed her opinion that CDOT does not have a realistic plan to maintain I-25. She listed the benefits of the bill.

02:01 PM -- Andy Karsian, representing CDOT, testified in opposition to the bill. Mr. Karsian discussed the funding source for the bonds addressed by the bill. He responded to questions from the committee about the funding stream for projects across the state that are not on the TRANS project list distributed by Representative DelGrosso (Attachment B).

15HouseState0504AttachB.pdf15HouseState0504AttachB.pdf

02:05 PM -- David Flaherty, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Flaherty administered a poll about the bill. He indicated that a majority of Coloradans support the idea and explained how the poll was created. He responded to questions from the committee about other polls addressing the state of transportation infrastructure in Colorado.

02:11 PM -- Will Tour, representing the Southwest Energy Alliance and Conservation Colorado, testified in opposition to the bill. Mr. Tour spoke about transportation funding in Colorado. He characterized the bill as a funding disaster. He responded to questions from the committee about viable options for funding Colorado's transportation needs.

02:13 PM -- Sean Conway, representing the Weld County Board of County Commissioners, testified in support of the bill. Commissioner Conway responded to questions from the committee about the gas tax.

02:19 PM -- Mizraim Cordero, representing the Colorado Competitive Council, testified in opposition to the bill. Mr. Cordero expressed his opinion that the bill represents deficit spending. He responded to questions from the committee.

02:22 PM -- Jody Randall, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Randall stated that this bill is the smart thing to do. She responded to questions from the committee.

02:25 PM -- Greg Fulton, representing the Colorado Motor Carriers Association, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Fulton spoke about the impact to his industry of poor road and bridge conditions. He responded to questions from the committee.

02:31 PM -- Kelly Sloan, representing the Mesa County Board of County Commissioners, testified in support of the bill. Commissioner Sloan discussed Mesa County projects listed on Attachment B.

02:32 PM -- Erik Hansen, representing the Adams County Board of County Commissioners and the cities of Northglenn and Thornton, testified in support of the bill. Commissioners Sloan and Hansen responded to questions from the committee.


02:36 PM

Representative DelGrosso listed individuals who would have testified in support of the bill if there had been additional time. He wrapped up his presentation of the bill and asked for a favorable recommendation.
BILL:SB15-272
TIME: 02:45:12 PM
MOVED:Thurlow
MOTION:Refer Senate Bill 15-272 to the Committee on Finance. The motion failed on a vote of 5-6.
SECONDED:Tate
VOTE
Foote
No
Humphrey
Yes
Lontine
No
Neville P.
Yes
Primavera
No
Tate
Yes
Thurlow
Yes
Tyler
No
Willett
Yes
Salazar
No
Ryden
No
YES: 5 NO: 6 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:SB15-272
TIME: 02:45:54 PM
MOVED:Salazar
MOTION:Postpone Senate Bill 15-272 indefinitely. The motion passed on a vote of 6-5.
SECONDED:Foote
VOTE
Foote
Yes
Humphrey
No
Lontine
Yes
Neville P.
No
Primavera
Yes
Tate
No
Thurlow
No
Tyler
Yes
Willett
No
Salazar
Yes
Ryden
Yes
Final YES: 6 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS



02:46 PM

The committee took a brief recess.