The House Finance Committee advanced two bills with broad support, referring the Wildlife Collision Prevention Act (SB26-141) to Appropriations on an 8-2 vote after sharp debate over whether its $5 vehicle registration fee is legally structured as a fee or a voluntary donation, and sending a narrow agricultural deadline fix (HB26-1341) to the Committee of the Whole unanimously.
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Representative How Marshall stated 'we keep saying it's an opt in, but it's my understanding this is an opt out' and called out multiple witnesses and both bill sponsors for repeatedly describing the fee as opt-in when he argued it is structured as opt-out. Senator Perry Ball, in his support testimony, described the bill as building 'an opt in' mechanism. Marshall's characterization was not directly rebutted by sponsors on the opt-in/opt-out distinction specifically.
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“Calling things something that they're really not is very problematic to me when we do these things because when we get sloppy with wording and process, no matter how great this program is and we've heard that's all we heard is how great and important this program is. And that's great for the Transportation Committee, but I would hope the Finance committee would take a little more view of what's this funding mechanism.”
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Sign in to subscribeThe committee will come to order. Please call the roll. Representatives Brooks. Excused. Macho degraff. Excuse. Garcia. Here. Gonzalez. Here. Hartsuk. Here. Marshall. Here. Stewart. Here. Zokai. Excused to tone. Mr. Chair. Here we have a quorum. We have two bills, we have our bill sponsors here. On Senate Bill 141 we've been joined by Representative Brooks as well who'd like to kick us off. Madam speaker. Thank you Mr. Chair. Thank you committee. Delighted to be here today with my co prime Representative Taggart to talk to you about our Wildlife Collision Prevention act. Senate Bill 141. Our wonderful state is known for many things and certainly our diverse wildlife and pristine environments are a part of our reputation and brand. Protecting our wildlife, protecting access to the outdoors and tourism is a priority for us, but we must do so without risking public safety. Vehicle collisions with wildlife are a significant concern in Colorado, costing lives, causing injury, damaging property, and certainly placing financial burden on families. In 2024 there were approximately 7,500 crashes with animals that occurred on roads across the state. From 2010 to 2025 there were 52 motorist fatalities and 5,525 injuries. This bill builds…
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