February 05, 2009 07:10 PM UTC

Majority: It's More Than Bigger Offices

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Final passage in Senate. Rocky:

Following a long day of debate Wednesday, the Senate voted 19-16 Thursday morning to give final approval to the most far-reaching transportation-funding bill the legislature has considered in years.

Two Democrats who had opposed a provision that allows for increased tolling – Sen. Morgan Carroll of Aurora and Lois Tochtrop of Thornton – joined with Republicans in voting against Senate Bill 108, known as the “Faster” bill.

The measure, if passed through the House and signed by Gov. Bill Ritter, would increase vehicle-registration fees for most drivers $41 a year by 2011 to raise some $265 million for road and bridge repairs. It also would study the possibility of tolling existing roads.

Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, warned that he expects the fees to be challenged in court as an unconstitutional tax hike, much like a 2007 bill that froze falling property-tax rates was.

Ultimately, the battle over Governor Ritter’s centerpiece transportation bill this session, Senate Bill 108, wasn’t much of a battle at all. As the Denver Post reports:

As state senators gather today to give a major roads bill final consideration, Republicans have pledged to withhold support now that the proposal once again allows tolls on existing roads.

The Democrat-backed bill, dubbed FASTER, went through a series of changes in hours of contentious debate Wednesday, but one of the last changes ended any chance of a bipartisan agreement, some say.

Republicans and a handful of Democrats first voted to remove provisions allowing local authorities to toll existing roads. After a break in the debate, the bill sponsor and Democratic leaders put the provisions back in, and Senate Bill 108 was passed on a 21-14 party-line vote.

That was the deal breaker, said Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction.

“We feel like they’ve made a strategic decision to power this through,” Penry said. “In the end this bill is substantially the same as when it was introduced.”

Bill sponsor Sen. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, lamented the loss of bipartisan support but said he felt his side had compromised enough…

Democrats said Wednesday that it’s the Republicans who wouldn’t budge.

They listed a series of concessions, some they gave voluntarily and some won when their own caucus members voted with Republicans.

Democrats agreed to phase in registration-fee increases, allowed a bonding-like funding mechanism favored by Republicans and removed pilot programs allowing cities to charge drivers by the mile.

They were even willing to come down on registration fees, said Democrat Sen. Chris Romer.

But as the day wore on, two things became clear: the dissenting Democrats–in a powerful position with just enough votes to swing the chamber, as demonstrated–could be reasoned and negotiated with, with a number of moderate Republicans like Sen. Al White who gamely tried to get his caucus serious about making a deal. But GOP leadership, led by Josh Penry, would have none of it. They weren’t serious about wanting to negotiate. And in the end, the concessions that had been offered them were too far-reaching to leave in the bill when the goal of putting them there (meaningful GOP support) was never legitimately on the table.

Them’s the breaks, stubborn minority: negotiations are certainly preferable, but once they have run their course without good faith from the other side, the majority is free to conclude they are optional. Though this is far from the end of the long road for the FASTER bill, Republicans had a chance this round to get a compromise they could live with–and blew it all by themselves, Post reporter Jessica Fender’s cornball “frustration shared by many” spin control (see article’s conclusion) notwithstanding.