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House Appropriations advances bill to raise emissions-testing fees and create repair fund
Summary
The House Appropriations Committee sent Senate Bill 3 21 to the committee of the whole with a favorable recommendation after testimony that Colorado's vehicle emissions testing program needs more funding, expanded testing capacity and a new repair assistance fund for low-income motorists.
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 assist motorists who cannot afford emissions-related repairs and would allow the air commission to adjust the emissions-testing fee, raising revenue to upgrade equipment, add testing stations and improve contractor wages. Steve McCannon of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) said the new fund would be supported by existing air-pollution penalty money and would not increase the state general fund burden. "Imagine struggling to get to work or to your kid's school because your car failed an emissions test and you can't afford the repairs," McCannon said.
Supporters told the committee that the program's capacity has not matched regional population growth. Jim Brandon, who testified for Air Care Colorado, said many stations are outdated and were built without accounting for all-wheel-drive vehicles; he urged the committee to approve the bill so contracts can be modernized and more stations added. "People sit there and wait sometimes over an hour to get a test," Brandon said, describing long lines at stations such as Parker and North Adams County and overflow at North Glenn.
Opponents asked for limits on any fee increase and for safeguards to protect motorists. Willie Menton, testifying in opposition, urged amendments to cap the fee for newer vehicles at $30 and hold the fee for older vehicles at $15, and suggested using depot plates to allow repair shops to move vehicles for testing without extra cost. "I expect the fee will rise to $50 with little notice or pushback," Menton said, and argued that forced contributions to a repair fund would amount to involuntary charity.
Committee members asked whether collector and vintage vehicles would be affected; McCannon said the fee increase would likely affect collector-plate vehicles but that the vehicles are driven infrequently and the department wants to minimize the impact. He also read the counties in the ozone nonattainment area: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld.
There were no amendments on the floor. Representative Joseph moved the bill to the committee of the whole with a favorable recommendation; the motion was seconded by the vice chair. The committee recorded the bill as passing on "a vote of 8 2 3." The committee chair then adjourned the meeting.
The bill now proceeds to the committee of the whole for further consideration.
