Zorn: Colorado’s passenger rail romance vs. reality
By Ryan Zorn | Guest Columnist
Have you noticed that the expansion of passenger rail is beginning to permeate agendas of state and local governments? The romance of big rail projects and access to other people’s money have always been hard for career politicians to resist.
Gov. Jared Polis is no different. The Biden administration is dangling billions of federal taxpayer dollars out for grabs. Here at home, the governor just secured a legislated $3 per-day rental car fee worth $58 million per year and a privately-negotiated political ransom worth $175 million per year from Colorado oil and gas producers in the form of new production fees that will be funneled toward new passenger rail initiatives.
His message to our local governments seems to be “all ...