A look back at the 2024 Colorado legislative session

Y’all, the 2024 Colorado state legislative session was action packed! We made some exciting progress on securing new funding for transit service, expanding housing options near transit, and improving roadway safety. Read on for the full rundown of bills we took positions on and where they landed at the end of the session.

Before jumping into the nitty gritty, I want to share a few reflections.

First, the work that we did this legislative session wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for our outstanding partners and supporters (you)! There’s a saying—I’ve heard it in regards to running, but maybe it originated somewhere else—If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. At DSP, we’re committed to going far and our partners are critical to achieving our mission of reducing car dependency. I’m grateful to get to work with so many talented, strategic advocates each day who make this work much more fun and meaningful than going it alone. Further, support from folks like you is key to getting decision makers to fully understand why the policies we support matter. I’m grateful for everyone who emailed their legislators in support of bills we were working on, especially those who shared personal stories. And, if you picked up the phone and made a call to your legislator or showed up to an event, I owe you a really crisp high five!

Next, I’ll be the first to admit that it’s easy to become cynical and disillusioned with the state of politics from time to time. Despite that, over the past few months, there have been several occasions that I got home from the capitol feeling encouraged and inspired after talking with legislators. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely folks serving in the Colorado General Assembly who don’t exactly give me the warm fuzzies, but there are some truly phenomenal humans serving the people of this state. Getting to know legislators who are fighting the good fight and working to improve the lives of people of Colorado added energy to my cup at times when I needed it the most.

I don’t want to paint an overly rosy picture because politics is messy and for every step forward, there’s one back somewhere else. At my core, I work in politics because of people. To me, politics is about working together with community members, advocates, policy wonks, and legislators to advance policies that improve people’s lives. That’s what keeps me going when a good bill dies, when bill hearings go into the wee hours of the morning, and when the best-laid plans completely go by the wayside. In your own advocacy journey, I hope you get to connect with people who care deeply and give you the energy to fight for what you believe in, too.

Now, onto the full recap!

Warmly,

Molly McKinley
Policy Director, the Denver Streets Partnership

SB24-230: Oil and Gas Production Fees, aka the transit funding bill — PASSED

Sponsors: Senators Fenberg and Cutter, Representatives McCluskie and Velasco

This is a huge win for public transit and the environment! This bill generates new funding from a fee on oil and gas production to reduce air pollution. Bill supporters estimate that approximately $138 million would be raised annually, 80% of which will go to transit and the remaining 20% will be dedicated to Colorado wildlife and parks. Of the funding dedicated to transit, 70% of that is for transit operations—funding to improve service frequency and reliability. This is the type of funding we’ve been calling on leaders to provide for years and it’s exciting to see the state step up with this new fund. We need substantially more funding to increase transit service in the Denver region to the levels needed to meet our climate and air quality goals, but this is a pretty sizable step in the right direction. Send Governor Polis a quick note of thanks for this historic state investment in transit operations.

HB24-1304: Minimum Parking Requirements, aka the parking bill — PASSED

Sponsors: Senators Priola and Hinrichsen, Representatives Vigil and Woodrow

You’ve heard that we’ve paved paradise to put up a parking lot, right? Well, in Colorado from here on out, we’ll be doing a little less of that! To date in Colorado, minimum parking mandates have driven up the cost of housing and, in some cases, even kept housing units from being built. We joined our partners in lobbying legislators on this bill day after day—even once basically running up multiple flights of stairs to talk with a senator on his way to the floor.

The bill was ultimately amended to address concerns in the Senate to focus on residential development near transit. The final bill eliminates parking minimums for: multifamily residential, residential adaptive reuse projects, and mixed-use projects with at least 50% residential, within ¼ mile of rail and bus stations that have 30 minute or more frequent service. The sponsors of this bill were persistent and dedicated, even with setbacks that come when you’re fighting car dependency, and I’m grateful for their leadership. Send them a quick note to thank them for their hard work on this bill.

SB24-195: Protect Vulnerable Road Users, aka the new vulnerable road user bill — PASSED

Sponsors: Senators Winter and Cutter, Representatives Lindstedt and Lindsay

At DSP, we were psyched about the original vulnerable road user bill that was introduced in January, which would have established an enterprise fund for roadway safety projects aimed at improving safety for people walking, rolling, and biking through an annual weight-based vehicle fee. Heavier, larger vehicles are more deadly and we were glad to see that nexus being highlighted in the original concept of this bill. Unfortunately, the bill was postponed indefinitely in the Senate Finance committee when it became clear there that wasn’t enough support to pass a vote of the committee members.

Not willing to accept full defeat, the bill sponsors worked to get the new version of the bill introduced later in the session. The new bill offers some clean-up on SB23-200 (which expanded how automated traffic enforcement can be used in the state), dedicates some existing funding (a minimum of $7 million/year) specifically for projects that improve roadway safety for vulnerable road users, and requires CDOT to set declining annual targets for vulnerable road users. We’re grateful for the leadership of the bill sponsors on this, both this year and in previous years, and we hope they pursue opportunities to build on the original concept in future legislative sessions. If you feel the same, let them know!

Everything else we worked on