Backers of a proposed constitutional amendment that would require more road spending in Colorado have agreed to pull it from the ballot under a deal with state officials that calls for the legislature to earmark more money for roads in coming years, a source told The Denver Post.
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The tentative deal was expected to be formally announced later Thursday, according to the source, who is close to the negotiations and was granted anonymity to discuss the deal before it became public. Attorney General Phil Weiser, the Democratic nominee for governor, helped push the deal over the finish line after months of negotiations with legislators went nowhere, the source said.
State Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, one of the top Democrats in the House and a negotiator on the package, said on a call with fellow legislative Democrats Thursday morning that the emerging package would include legislation that could earmark as much as $120 million for roadway repair, without cutting into the general fund. He said another component was a referred measure for voters to decide in November 2027.
He called the framework a “proactive and, I think, responsible path forward that addresses a core concern in our state.”
“We know that, at the end of the day, this is how Coloradans expect us to solve problems — by coming together around difficult issues and really engaging in good faith,” Boesenecker said.
The exact details of the proposed legislative package will be worked out over the next several months and into the next legislative session. Its passage would hinge on the dealmakers winning election in November, when Democrats are favored to retain control of the legislature and the governor’s office.
As it stands, Initiative 175, the proposed constitutional amendment, would, if passed, require the state to spend some $2 billion per year, including $540 million from the general fund, on road transportation projects. It would require taxes and fees the state collects on motor vehicles, fuel and parts to be spent specifically on road transportation.
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As a constitutional amendment, it would need 55% of the vote to pass in November.
The ballot measure had faced fierce pushback from Democrats in the legislature, where the party has nearly 2-to-1 majorities. They argued the amendment would, in effect, gut spending on other state priorities by requiring the road spending even as the government likely grapples with another massive budget deficit.
In the waning days of this year’s legislative session, lawmakers pushed through a bill designed to all but neutralize the amendment, even if voters were to approve it in the fall.
At the time, lawmakers had hoped to force the Restore Our Roads coalition to withdraw its ballot measure in exchange for more talks on a legislative solution, a gambit that the coalition rejected at the time. That legislation would delay the bulk of the amendment’s impact from being felt for only three years, according to the coalition — a period of time the group was willing to wait out.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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