State Senate Unanimously Passes Transportation Bill; Bill Heads To House

DENVER (CBS4) - Colorado state lawmakers have agreed on a deal that will provide hundreds of millions of dollars to fix roads around the state.

The Senate unanimously passed a bill that allocates $500 million to the Colorado Department of Transportation this year.

Business groups plan to put a measure on the ballot in November that would raise additional sales tax for future years.

If that fails, the legislature will refer a $3.5 billion bond proposal to voters next year.

"We took the extra money that we had this year, that's only going be around this year, we put toward our priorities and we did it in a way that doesn't compromise other priorities like education or healthcare, but at the end of the day we really need to be thinking about the $9 billion projects," State Senator Rachel Zenzinger (D-Arvada/Westminster) said.

CDOT says it has a backlog on $9 billon worth of projects.

The bill now heads to the House of Representatives.