Senate committee unanimously advances Maria Garcia Barry for Front Range Passenger Rail board

Maria Garcia Barry, a governor's nominee to the Front Range Passenger Rail District Board, secured a unanimous favorable recommendation from the Colorado Senate Transportation and Energy Committee on a voice and roll-call vote.

Sal Pace, general manager of the Front Range Passenger Rail District, introduced Garcia Barry and highlighted her decades of experience on regional transportation projects including work around Denver International Airport and Denver Union Station. Pace said the nominee would be well placed to help the district consider a potential ballot referral and the prospect of rail service connecting Fort Collins to Trinidad.

Garcia Barry told the committee she has worked on major Colorado mobility projects and served on appointed transit boards, and said she supports careful, deliberate district boundaries so that jurisdictions that pay taxes can see direct benefits. Committee members asked for clarification about taxing-district boundaries and whether proposed alignments would leave some counties with little direct benefit; Pace said a draft bill would be introduced to clarify and redraw district boundaries and that three alignments had been studied.

Senator Ball moved the committee recommendation to the full Senate; the roll call recorded all present members voting in favor and the committee placed the confirmation on the consent calendar.

The committee's action advances the nomination to the full Senate; no formal objections were raised during the committee session.