2016 Colorado General Assembly Wrap Up
The
2nd
Session
of the 70th Colorado
General
Assembly
ended on Wednesday,
5/11/16.
During
this
session 217 Senate Bills
and 58 various Senate
Resolutions/Memorials
were introduced. Also, 468 House Bills and
45 various House Resolutions/Memorials were introduced.
Out of all those bills, there were five of direct concern to
motorcyclists that I testified at or closely observed. There was
one Senate Joint Resolution that I was actively involved in.
HB16-1205 was a Lane-Splitting Bill introduced by Rep.
Klingenschmitt. The bill was PI’d (postponed indefinitely
– effectively killed) on 2/17 in the House Transportation
and Energy Committee. There was some support for the
bill, but the opposition won out as the Committee Members
questioned the safety aspect and the possible enforcement of
the restrictions of the bill. The restrictions were that traffic must
be going 5 MPH or less and the motorcyclist cannot go more
than 10 MPH faster than the traffic. All was not lost though, as
we learned what the opposition to the bill was and can possibly
come back as a better bill in the future.
SB16-123 was the bill this year that took most of my time
down at the Capitol. It was a HOV/Transponder Bill. July 2015
CDOT introduced the switchable transponder needed for cars
to use the HOV/HOT lanes in Colorado. Motorcycles would
also need a transponder in the form of a decal put on your
headlight for free access to a HOV lane. ABATE’s concern
was the $35 cost for the decal and to set up an account to ride
for “free” in the HOV lane. [Motorcycles are considered a high
occupancy vehicle under all conditions per Federal Statute –
U.S.C.; Title 23; 166 (b) (2) (A).] While looking for a sponsor
to introduce a bill to correct this problem for motorcyclists, we
found Sen. Lundberg’s proposal of SB16-123, which initially
proposed to get rid of all switchable transponders and the
requirement for motorcycles to need a decal. The bill passed
the Senate Transportation Committee (4 – 1) on 2/19, but
when it got to the Senate Floor for the 2nd reading, there was
a lot of opposition and things changed. To make a long story
short, after many meetings and another 2nd reading on the
Senate Floor, the new version said motorcyclists would need
to use switchable transponders but weren’t required to pay
for them. A consensus among all parties involved was that
motorcycles would not need transponders/decals. The bill
passed 2nd & 3rd readings in the Senate and was sent to
the House Transportation and Energy Committee. Executive
Director of CDOT, Shailen Bhatt and Executive Director of
E470, Tim Stewart were the main opponents of the bill at the
6 Thunder Roads Magazine® Colorado
hearing. Prior to the hearing Director Bhatt
distributed a letter stating, “Moving forward,
motorcycles will not need a transponder to
ride at no cost in HOV express lanes. We will
start working with our partners at E470 on
this solution, understanding it will take time
to accommodate these changes”. So even
though the bill got postponed indefinitely
in the House Transportation and Energy
Committee, progress was made. The issue was brought
up on how long it would take to make these changes for
motorcycles. While the bill was still being discussed, Director
Stewart “guesstimated” about 10 months. Everyone seemed
confused as to why so long. Couldn’t they just recognize a
motorcycle when a license plate picture is taken and discard
it? No explanation was given. Was it because the bill was
still being discussed? A few days after that, Director Stewart
invited 3 of us from ABATE to tour the E470 facility. It is quite
an impressive operation, especially the “Command Center”.
We watched as operators viewed and verified license photos
then forwarded them for processing. It was here that it was
explained that photos come in from all toll roads and HOV/HOT
lanes. The first step would be to separate out the HOV lanes.
The computer programmer said it wouldn’t take 10 months to
do that, but they first had to wait for authorization from CDOT.
So that’s where the holdup is right now. ABATE is still staying
on top of the issue and is regularly asking for progress.
SB16-175 was an E15 Fuel Bill introduced by Sen. Grantham
on 3/28. The bill would have given a State Income Tax Credit to
retail dealers selling E15 gasoline. Consequently it would have
increased the sale of E15 in Colorado. If you read my article
in last month’s issue of Thunder Roads Colorado, you’d know
how bad E15 is for motorcycles, certain cars, small engines,
and the environment. We don’t need E15 in Colorado. The
bill was PI’d in the Senate Finance Committee on 4/14. But a
larger threat exists on the National level with Federal Grants
from the USDA and H.R 4673 (REFUEL Act) which would
provide more for Federal Grants to expand the availability
of E15. Have you heard of a blender pump? Again see last
month’s article for more details (you can find the article online
at http://thunderroadscolorado.com/back-issues/ and click on
the May 2016 issue).
Also of indirect concern to motorcyclists is SB16-122 (More
Oversight of CDOT). While the bill mostly deals with bidding
and reporting of transportation projects, our concern was “the
requirement of the State Auditor to conduct a risk-based audit
of CDOT”. I testified how this was important to motorcyclists
because of the need to audit the MOST program. More on that
issue in another article. The Governor signed SB16-122 bill
on 4/14.
June 2016
www.thunderroadscolorado.com