CDOT legislative staff briefs STACK on bills including infrastructure‑metal theft, wildlife collision fees and reporting after fatal crashes

CDOT’s legislative liaison briefed STACK on April 2 about bills the department testified for or is tracking as the session approached adjournment.

Emily Bear said the department has supported HB26101 targeting criminal offenses for theft of critical infrastructure metals such as wiring and fiber that damage signals and impose repair costs. She also described a bill that would create an optional $5 driver fee to fund wildlife collision prevention infrastructure that the department supports, and HB26127, a bill on reporting after fatal crashes that had passed both chambers and awaited adoption of Senate amendments in the House.

Bear also summarized a transportation safety modernization bill (replacing statutory references from “accident” to “crash”) that had moved through Senate Transportation and Energy and was on the Senate consent calendar, and she noted ongoing discussions on automated driving systems for commercial vehicles (referred to in the briefing as HB2611286) where CDOT has proposed alternative regulatory language and is still negotiating with sponsors.

Budget context and toll revenue: staff reiterated that the Joint Budget Committee removed a long‑standing $10.5 million transfer to the multimodal options fund (later discussed as possibly reduced to $7.5 million in the governor’s comeback) and that CDOT is collecting stakeholder feedback on potential statutory flexibility to use toll revenues in limited ways while keeping most revenue on collecting corridors.

Why it matters: the bills affect CDOT operations (theft costs, safety reporting and regulatory frameworks) and funding context; staff encouraged regional partners to stay engaged before session adjournment.

Ending: staff offered to answer questions and to continue stakeholder conversations about toll revenue flexibility and funding tradeoffs.