Re: Deja Vu All Over Again?

It is disheartening when the initial word from the Colorado legislature is "no" to requests for adequate funding for the C&TS. And, yes, it's especially galling when one considers that Colorado right now is $2.3 million behind NM in appropriations for the railroad -- after all the interstate compact calls for equal contributions from the two states.
However, one has to remember that the seeds of this problem were sown last year when the old Commission needed to make a convincing case for appropriations requests for this current session. There is no question that the budget procedures in Colorado are a lot less flexible than NM. The time to organize a proper comprehensive approach was last fall. Furthermore, years of accumulated ignorance about the C&TS up in Denver cannot be changed overnight.
There are still about seven weeks to go in the Colorado legislative session, and you can bet that the new Commissioners and their aides are hard at work lobbying for the C&TS in Denver. All of you in Colorado can do your part by contacting your representatives and senators and making your views known. I gotta believe Carlos, Marvin, and the rest of the Antonito crew have already been in contact with Rep. Rafael Gallegos. Anyone called on Gail Schwartz the new Senator for the region? Anyone (other than Bob Jennings) been in touch with Senator Abel Tapia who chairs the Joint Budget Committee? Give your congressman a call, or better still stop off at the Statehouse in Denver. That's an integral part of our efforts in NM. Time for Colorado railfans to step up to the plate -- but keep off my C&TS NM license plate (thanks, Kim).