June 09, 2026 02:45 PM UTC

Colorado Contractors: Restore Our Roads and Screw Everyone Else

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• by: Colorado Pols

Near the end of the 2026 legislative session, Democrats pushed through a bill intended to protect Coloradans from the unintended consequences of another special interest group money grab. Lawmakers hoped that the bill would bring the Colorado Contractors Association to the negotiating table in order to head off a ballot measure that would blow a massive hole in the state budget — likely causing significant cuts to K-12 education and healthcare funding.

As The Colorado Sun reports, today the Contractors told the rest of the state to pound sand:

The Colorado Contractors Association on Tuesday announced it would move forward with its ballot measure to enshrine road funding in the state constitution, defying state lawmakers who had set a June 15 deadline for the group to suspend its campaign…

…Initiative 175 would require the state to set aside all of the taxes raised from motor vehicle sales, and most of the sales taxes collected on auto parts for transportation projects. That would prevent those dollars from being spent on general state services as they are today.

As a result, nonpartisan state fiscal analysts say the measure would blow a $264 million hole in next year’s general fund budget, which starts July 1, plus $539 million the year after that.

Critics said that would exacerbate the state’s budget crisis, triggering deeper cuts to healthcare, education and other public services. So in response, legislative Democrats passed House Bill 1430, which Polis signed into law earlier this month. [Pols emphasis]

Nobody is arguing that Colorado couldn’t use more funding for road and transportation projects, but the state just doesn’t have the money to cover everything that needs fixing. Ignoring that reality, interest groups have started pushing ballot measures that mandate huge spending requirements to the detriment of other critical programs. Measures such as Initiative 175 create long-term spending mandates that handcuff state lawmakers trying to deal with other funding priorities — a problem exacerbated in years like 2026 when legislators have been forced to make $1.5 billion in cuts. As House Democrats explained in early May:

If approved, Initiative 175 would require the state to spend around $700 million a year on highway projects without providing any new revenue. This comes on the heels of back-to-back-to-back $1 billion cuts to the budget. Initiative 175 would require $700 million in cuts to K-12 education, higher education and Medicaid, leading rural hospitals and clinics to close, tuition to increase, and to a new budget stabilization factor for K-12. In addition to devastating education and healthcare funding cuts, Initiative 175 would defund the DMV, the Peace Officer Standards and Training fund, the Emergency Medical Services fund and DUI prevention efforts.

As State Rep. Andy Boesenecker (D-Ft. Collins) told Colorado Newsline in May:

“If we had an extra $700 million to fund transit in our state, we probably would have used it this last budget cycle to not cut (Medicaid) reimbursement rates.”

Lawmakers hoped that HB26-1430 would convince the Contractors to suspend its “Restore Our Roads” campaign in favor of creating a legislative working group to make recommendations for sustainable transportation funding. Instead, the Contractors are digging in and moving the goalposts with bad-faith narratives. From the Sun:

“It’s unfortunate Gov. (Jared) Polis is forcing Coloradans to wait three more years to fix the roads, but in the meantime, they will get a much-needed break at the pump and, over the long haul, safer, better-maintained roads,” Tony Milo, president and CEO of the Colorado Contractors Association, said in a statement.

For unapologetic Republican shill Tony Milo of the Contractors Association, it made good financial sense for his group to spend a few million dollars in an effort to guarantee $700 million a year in new road construction contracts with the state. Funding for schools and healthcare would suffer, but he and his contractor buddies would get paid.

This grift won’t work as well as first envisioned because of HB26-1430, but Milo and the Contractors are apparently willing to hold the rest of the state hostage just to make a point:

In a previous interview with The Colorado Sun, Milo was undeterred by the legislature’s tactic, saying transportation could still come out ahead. The measure would add road funding to the constitution, giving it similar protections to K-12 education. And, he noted, trading gas taxes for sales taxes could be a net positive, because gas taxes have been declining over time.

“If that is ultimately where we land, that is not all bad for Colorado roads,” he said.

This is unbelievably cynical and selfish. Lawmakers would be wise to remember this whenever the Colorado Contractors Association comes calling in the future.