Now that the state legislature has adjourned, we have our annual round of finger-pointing, blaming and self-congratulation. So far the greatest commotion has been associated with blaming each political party by the other for the fact that our highway system is in such dreadful shape.
While the problem has been more pronounced with the Democratic majority of late there was no great rush to fix everything by the Republicans when they were in control. The difference being that the Republicans didn't try to spend what money was available on a lot of new programs.
The issue of fixing infrastructure is probably as old as political bodies themselves. Few politicians are interested in spending money on very mundane tasks; there's not usually a ribbon cutting at the back end of the dump truck patching a street. So instead more grandiose ideas are usually trotted out and only when people's cars are disappearing into the potholes and voters become angry do the politicians become interested.
The issue is always the same in government and that is to prioritize expenditure. Just like the tired old bromide that government should live within its means and balance a budget, just like houseful, which should require the most important spending to be satisfied first.
Unfortunately, every year, legislators arrive at the Capitol with a number of pet projects in tow and inevitably by the end of the session there is a winnowing process based usually on the majority party status of the legislator or the need of a minority party member for some other legislation.
Colorado's gas tax is adequate for these needs if used appropriately, which it has not been in the past, but instead has been leaked into other programs.
It is also a pleasant parable of some that all the road damage is caused by the oil and gas industry and while this may certainly be true in some counties, it is not the controlling factor for the state by any means.
Instead, we should probably examine and fix the distribution of Colorado's funding -- otherwise there is going to be a avalanche of fee increases next year.
