The Chamber has continued to work with partners and advocate for solutions to address funding challenges facing transportation. Last week, Chamber President and CEO Kelly Brough spoke with outstate regional organizations like Action 22, Club 20 and Progressive 15—organizations that represent 59 of our 64 counties—who shared support of shifting the hospital provider fee into an enterprise to maximize funding for transportation statewide.
Additionally, this week the Chamber supported House Bill 1067, which will extend a law through 2029 that allows regional transportation authorities to ask voters to consider mill levies to benefit transportation projects.
The Chamber is continuing to advocate for transportation solutions that increase efficiency and safety. Chamber Public Affairs Director Jennifer Jones testified on behalf of two bills aiming to do just that this afternoon. Advocating for House Bill 1008 to increase road capacity by allowing Colorado Department of Transportation buses to use the shoulder as a traffic lane. Jones and Nick Colglazier, representing our affiliate the Colorado Competitive Council, both testified on House Bill 1039 to require vehicles to have appropriate winter tires, traction control or chains when traveling between Dotsero and Morrison on Interstate 70. Jones said these bills are smart solutions for Colorado.
Chamber Stands Against Efforts to Undo High Education Standards
This week the Chamber took a position to oppose a bill focused on eliminating statewide assessments in ninth grade. In particular, Senate Bill 5 would eliminate English, language arts and math assessments.
“Education is key to our economic success because today’s students are tomorrow’s workforce. Studies tell us that success in ninth grade is highly predictive of graduating from high school,” Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kelly Brough said in statement released today. “That’s why we remain committed to maintaining statewide learning standards and benchmarks that clearly show how our students are performing and where we can do better to ensure their success.”
Want to read more about the bills the Chamber is tracking? Click here.