House Appropriations advances bill to raise emissions-testing fees and create repair fund

The House Appropriations Committee voted to send Senate Bill 3 21 to the committee of the whole with a favorable recommendation after hearing testimony that Colorado's vehicle emissions testing program is strained and needs a fee adjustment and new funding to pay for repairs and expanded testing capacity.

Representative Joseph N. Gonzales, presenting the bill to the committee, said the state's emissions-testing program has operated in its current form since 1995 and has not kept pace with population growth or technological needs. "Emissions testing stations are strained due to this increased population and no new stations having been built in areas with the most significant population growth on the East and Southeast regions of the area," he said.

The bill would create a new fund to…