HOUSE 3rd Reading Unamended April 25, 2016 HOUSE Amended 2nd Reading April 22, 2016Second Regular Session Seventieth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO REENGROSSED This Version Includes All Amendments Adopted in the House of Introduction LLS NO. 16-0811.01 Jason Gelender x4330 HOUSE BILL 16-1304 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Tyler, Coram, Becker J., Mitsch Bush, Ryden SENATE SPONSORSHIP Heath, House Committees Senate Committees Transportation & Energy Appropriations A BILL FOR AN ACT Concerning community conversations on transportation priorities and preferred funding options. Bill Summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://www.leg.state.co.us/billsummaries.) The bill requires the department of transportation (CDOT) to hold at least one community conversation in each transportation planning region of the state (TPR) no later than October 1, 2016, in order to allow members of the public to testify and be questioned regarding their top priorities for transportation funding and their preferred means of raising the revenue needed to fund those priorities. To ensure maximum public participation for each community conversation, CDOT and the Colorado office of economic development must provide extensive public notice of each community conversation and CDOT must hold each community conversation at a time outside of regular business hours or most convenient to the local community and at a location that is convenient for as much of the population of the TPR as feasible and allow remote testimony. Within each TPR, the representative of the TPR on the statewide transportation advisory committee must convene an open house meeting or panel of individuals with expertise in transportation and economic development to interact with and receive testimony from the public at any community conversation. The representative of the TPR must lead the meeting or serve as the chair of the panel, and the meeting or panel must also include any member of the transportation commission and any regional transportation director for CDOT whose district or region includes any portion of the TPR and a representative of any regional economic development district that includes any portion of the TPR. The representative of the TPR shall also ensure that each state legislator, county commissioner, and municipal mayor and council member whose district, county, or municipality includes any portion of the TPR receives an invitation to participate in any community conversation held in the TPR. After all community conversations in a TPR are held, and no later than November 1, 2016, the representative of the TPR who convened the community conversations must develop and submit to the executive director of CDOT a regional community conversation report that ranks both the top transportation priorities for the TPR and the preferred means of raising the revenue needed to fund those priorities. The executive director must compile the regional reports into a statewide report that ranks the top transportation priorities for the state and the preferred means of raising the revenue to fund those priorities. The executive director must present the report during CDOT's SMART Act presentation made before the commencement of the 2017 regular legislative session. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that: (a) In 1991, when the gas tax was last increased, the state was spending one hundred twenty-five dollars per person per year on roads, but today it is spending less than sixty-four dollars per person, barely half as much; (b) With an unchanging gas tax, more vehicle miles traveled, and rapid construction cost inflation, the state has very limited funding for new construction of transportation infrastructure of any kind, does not have enough money to fund capacity expansion projects, and cannot perform enough maintenance on our roads to keep up with deterioration, all of which leads to increased traffic congestion and more expensive and inconvenient travel; (c) These problems are likely to worsen because Colorado's population is increasing and the state will have nearly one million more people in 2020 than it had in 2000; (d) Robust transportation infrastructure is both a bipartisan priority and a necessity for all Coloradans because: (I) Workers need it to get to their jobs; (II) Students need it to get to school safely; (III) Farmers and ranchers need it to move their commodities and get to market; (IV) Manufacturers need it to move materials in and products out; (V) Retailers need it to get products and customers to their stores; and (VI) The tourism industry needs it to get vacationers to their destinations; (e) Traffic congestion, road and bridge deterioration, and unplowed snow are obvious to every driver, and recent polling indicates that Coloradans have identified transportation issues as one of their top concerns; (f) Other states facing similar challenges with respect to the provision and maintenance of robust transportation infrastructure have already taken action, and in just the past two years alone twenty-two states, including the nearby states of Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah, and Idaho, have found ways to raise more revenue and increase dedicated transportation funding; (g) The Colorado department of transportation has extensive data regarding the condition of Colorado's roads, and that data indicates that pavement has been deteriorating since 2005 and will continue to deteriorate unless more maintenance is done; and (h) The department of transportation knows how to better maintain our roads and reduce traffic congestion, how much it costs to do it, how to prioritize the use of limited resources, and how to use creative strategies to do more with less. (2) The general assembly further finds and declares that: (a) As representatives of the people, the members of the general assembly respect the intelligence and good judgment of our constituents, and therefore believe that it is in the best interest of the state to require a series of community conversations about transportation priorities and preferred funding options to be held throughout the state as required by this act so that the general assembly and the department of transportation can better understand the specifics of what the people of the state want from their transportation system and to what extent they are willing to pay to achieve it; and (b) This act requires at least fifteen community conversations to be held throughout the state, one in each transportation planning region of the state, so that the members of the general assembly can hear what our constituents' transportation priorities are and receive their input as to their preferred means of raising the money needed to address those priorities. These community conversations will tell the general assembly whether Coloradans are willing to raise taxes or fees to upgrade roads, whether they prefer to put up with congestion and bumpy rides, or whether they have other options for the general assembly to consider. SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, add 43-1-1106 as follows: 43-1-1106. Community conversations about transportation priorities and funding - regional and statewide reports - definition - repeal. (1) No later than October 1, 2016, the department shall assist each transportation planning region in holding at least one community conversation in each transportation planning region concerning transportation priorities and preferred funding options. For purposes of this section, a "community conversation" means a public meeting at which the regional commission and the department must present potential priorities previously developed by the regional commission and all identified funding options for the region and the state and at which any member of the public may testify and be consulted regarding his or her top priorities for transportation funding and his or her preferred means of raising the revenue needed to fund those priorities, and the purpose of a community conversation is to allow the department to identify and rank both the top transportation priorities of the public for each transportation planning region and the public's preferred means of raising the revenue needed to fund those priorities. (2) In order to ensure maximum public participation for each community conversation, the department and the Colorado office of economic development created in article 48.5 of title 24, C.R.S., in close collaboration with each regional commission, shall provide extensive public notice, including notice through social media, press releases, newspaper advertising, radio and television advertising, telephone town hall meetings, and such other means of providing notice as are likely to reach large audiences, and the department shall: (a) Hold each community conversation at a time outside of regular business hours or most convenient to the local community and at a location that is convenient for as much of the population of the transportation planning region as feasible; and (b) Allow remote testimony if practicable from members of the public who are unable to or do not wish to attend the community conversation in person. (3) Within each transportation planning region, the representative of the region on the committee created pursuant to section 43-1-1104 selected by the regional commission shall convene an open house meeting or panel of individuals, including members of the regional commission, with expertise in transportation and economic development to interact with and receive testimony from the public at any community conversation held in the region. The committee representative shall prepare the regional community conversation report required by subsection (4) of this section. The regional commission representative shall lead the meeting or serve as the chair of the panel, and the meeting or panel must also include any member of the transportation commission created in section 43-1-106 whose district includes any portion of the transportation planning region, any regional transportation director for the department whose transportation region includes any portion of the transportation planning region, and a representative of any regional economic development district or other community economic development organization that includes any portion of the transportation planning region. The regional commission representative, assisted by department staff, shall also ensure that each state legislator, county commissioner, and municipal mayor and council member whose district, county, or municipality includes any portion of the transportation planning region receives an invitation to participate in any community conversation held in the region. (4) After all community conversations in a transportation planning region are held, and no later than November 1, 2016, the committee representative who convened the community conversations, assisted by department staff, shall develop and submit to the executive director of the department a regional community conversation report that ranks both the top transportation priorities for the transportation planning region and the preferred means of raising the revenue needed to fund those priorities. The executive director shall compile the regional community conversation reports into a statewide report that ranks the top transportation priorities for the state and reflects the priorities and choices of each regional commission and regional community conversation and the preferred means of raising the revenue to fund those priorities. The executive director shall provide a copy of the report to each regional commission and to the statewide transportation advisory committee and then present the report during the department's presentation to legislative committees of reference made pursuant to section 2-7-203, C.R.S., before the commencement of the 2017 regular legislative session. (5) This section is repealed, effective July 1, 2017. SECTION 3. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.