March 05, 2009 05:24 PM UTC

Profiles In Courage: Sen. Al White (R)

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Steamboat Pilot & Today reports:

State Sen. Al White, R-Hay­den, was the only Republican in either house of the state Legislature to support a transportation bill signed Monday that will generate $250 million a year for transportation projects through increased vehicle registration fees.

Senate Bill 108, dubbed FASTER, takes effect July 1 and will increase the average motorist’s annual registration fee by $32 in its first year. As a bridge safety fee is phased in throughout three years, the additional fee tops out at $41 in 2011-12 for most vehicles.

White has gotten some grief from fellow Republicans for his vote…

“I didn’t think in my district we could afford to stop snowplowing,” said White [Pols emphasis], who noted that he voted against the bill all the way up to its final approval hoping that changes would be made to it. “That was the only solution left on the table. … In the end, I took what was there because there was nothing left.”

White represents Senate District 8, which includes all or parts of Garfield, Eagle, Rio Blanco, Moffat, Routt and Jackson counties. Routt County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush, a Democrat who is vice chairwoman of CDOT’s Northwest Transportation Planning Region, applauded White’s decision Wednesday.

“I was very pleased to see that,” Mitsch Bush said. “He had promised us he would (vote for FASTER) because he understands the concerns, and he kept that promise.”

…White said the state can’t afford to be reactive to transportation needs because repairs become more expensive the longer they are neglected. White said the second issue is safety and that he would hate to see something like the August 2007 collapse of Minneapolis’ Interstate 35 bridge over the Mississippi River, which killed 13 people.

The words “we won’t forget this” have been leveled at Sen. White in the last few weeks as a naked threat from fellow Republicans like Minority Leader Josh Penry. For the majority of Coloradans, sick of pointless, hypocritical obstruction from a party seemingly determined to dodge responsibility at every step and undermine all solutions to the state’s pressing challenges, “we won’t forget this” is an affectionate promise.