David -- You're right on two counts. Typo on Soni Honegger's name is minor, but it sure does get frustrating down here in NM when, year after year, we bust hump to get capital funding for the C&TS and then have to watch Colorado fail to live up to its end of the treaty compact between the two states.
The only encouraging news I can give you is that the two commissioners from Colorado appointed two years ago, Lon Carpenter of Grand Junction and Peter Foster of Durango, are top-notch guys who have gone to extraordinary lengths on behalf of the C&TS, and the local Colorado legislators Senator Gail Schwartz and Representative Rafael Gallegos have been 100% behind the railroad's efforts to get funding. But, once things get caught up in the budgetary infighting in Denver, the C&TS simply lacks sufficient standing across a wide enough swath of legislators and special interests.
One fundamental problem is that the C&TS does not have a proper or accepted place in the appropriation process in Colorado. Are you aware that capital appropriations for the railroad are grouped and ranked with spending requests for higher education under the control of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education? You can imagine where railroad requests end up in that ranking.
Too many Colorado legislators, often due to term limits, are not even aware that they own a 50% undivided interest in a historic railroad. Changing that is a slow and frustrating process. We in NM cannot do it. It continues to be up to you guys in Colorado working through your elected representatives. I would think Commissioners Carpenter and Foster would appreciate any help you could give by contacting your state legislators on behalf of the C&TS. We do that down here.