DENVER — Colorado voters will have the chance this November to constitutionally guarantee that revenue intended for building and maintaining the state’s highways actually goes to fixing the roads, after proponents of Initiative 175 submitted enough valid signatures to earn a spot on the 2026 statewide ballot.
The Colorado Secretary of State’s office on Tuesday announced that of the 189,355 total petition signatures submitted, 143,112 were deemed valid, easily clearing the 124,238 threshold required of all citizens’ initiatives. Because 175 amends the state Constitution, signatures from at least two percent of registered voters in each of Colorado’s 35 state senate districts were also required. They cleared that hurdle as well.
The measure would resurrect what was known as the “Noble Bill,” 1979 legislation championed by Sen. Dan Noble that directed sales taxes on automotive purchases — vehicles, fuel, tires, brakes, batteries, headlamps and the like — into the Highway Users Trust Fund (HUTF) for road maintenance. The formula was straightforward: 60 percent to the state, 22 percent to counties, and 18 percent to cities. Soon after Noble left the legislature, lawmakers repealed the bill, diverting millions of highway dollars into the general fund for other uses.
Initiative 175 mandates that 100 percent of taxes and fees on vehicle sales and fuel, and two-thirds of sales taxes on car parts and accessories, be dedicated exclusively to building and repairing roads and bridges, as well as funding the Colorado State Patrol. Proponents estimate it would pump more than $1 billion annually back into road maintenance, effectively doubling what municipalities and counties currently receive.
But it’s been a pothole-filled road to the ballot. Majority Democrats passed House Bill 26-1430 during the legislative session, a measure introduced specifically to undercut 175 by temporarily reducing gas taxes and road use fees, thus significantly shrinking the revenue that would flow to highways under the initiative.
Wade Haerle, executive director of Club 20, which represents 22 western Colorado counties, was blunt in his assessment. “HB 1430 prioritizes short-term political maneuvering over long-term infrastructure needs,” he said. “Colorado’s transportation challenges require serious, durable solutions — not policy experiments that jeopardize funding.”
Governor Polis signed HB 1430 into law earlier in June.
Voters will have the final say on November 3. To pass, the measure must clear a 55 percent supermajority threshold.
