After three weeks of negotiations, the Senate on Wednesday gave initial approval to a bill that would raise most vehicle registration fees by $32 this year and $41 next year.

Lawmakers took out a provision that would have indexed the fee hikes to the annual inflation rate. Also stripped was a proposed feasibility study of a vehicle-miles-traveled fee.

But no other major changes were made to the bill, the most far-reaching transportation-funding legislation in years.

Democratic leaders say the "Faster" bill, which is expected to raise $214 million next year and $265 million each year thereafter, is more about creating jobs in the next six months than fixing the state highway system.

But it will allow them to repair 125 structurally deficient bridges and move forward on an issue that has been studied for two years but has seen solutions stagnate in the General Assembly.

"Even the amount of money in the bill as introduced isn't enough, but it's a step forward," Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, said after Senate Bill 108 received preliminary approval on a party-line vote. "It's an avenue to making sure that our roads are safe and that we are back on the right path."

But Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, called it a "quarter-billion-dollar tax increase during some of the roughest economic times our state has seen in recent memory."

And Senate Assistant Minority Leader Greg Brophy, R-Wray, questioned its description as a quick job creator, especially since the state already is expected to receive about $260 million in federal stimulus money that it must use on projects within the next six months or lose.

"To pretend as if this measure is going to save our economy, I think, is an exaggeration of truth," Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, said. "The fees are too high. The public does not want tolls."

Sen. Mary Hodge, D-Brighton, teamed with a handful of Democrats and all Republicans to make two major changes to the bill early in the day. She introduced an amendment to remove the inflation-index factor that would have increased bills yearly and one to ban tolling on existing highways.

But after a break, Hodge and Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, switched their votes on the tolling issue. Hodge said she was persuaded to do so by a letter from the Metro Mayors Caucus asking for tolling ability as a way to raise funds.

After an expected final approval vote today, the bill will head to the House, where sponsoring Sen. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, was non-committal on whether legislators would try to reinsert the indexing provision.

Push, shove and compromise

Senate Bill 108 would raise $265 million annually to fix Colorado's roads and 125 bridges. Below are the major planks of the bill, which came under hot debate Wednesday, and the compromises reached:

Fee increases

* What Dems wanted: Increase vehicle registration fees for most drivers by $32 next year, and $41 each year thereafter, raising $265 million annually. Increase fees more for heavier vehicles. Allow the fees to increase by the rate of inflation each year. Establish a $2 daily rental-car fee.

* What GOP wanted: A registration fee increase of no more than $15 annually and redirection of some general fund and severance-tax money for roads. It wanted no rental-car fee. Its plan would raise $125 million in its first year and $1.7 billion over 10 years.

* Compromise reached: Democrats won the annual fee and rental-car fee battles. Heavier vehicles will continue to pay greater rate increases. The inflation indexing of the fees, however, was removed from the bill.

Tolling

* What Dems wanted: Create an enterprise to look at creative fundraising options such as tolling of existing roads.

* What GOP wanted: Take potential expansion of tolling out of the bill.

* Compromise reached: A ban on tolling of existing roads was added to the bill then later deleted, leaving tolling an option.

Future funding mechanism

* What Dems wanted: A pilot study on alternative funding mechanisms, most notably a vehicle-miles-traveled fee. It potentially could replace the state gas tax with one based on annual number of miles a car drives.

* What GOP wanted: To kill the VMT proposal, which they called intrusive and discriminatory.

* Compromise reached: The VMT proposal was removed from the bill.

Use of existing revenues

* What Dems wanted: New revenue would come from fees such as the vehicle-registration fee hikes, rental-car fee and increased fines on late registrations. No money would be redirected from other areas of the budget.

* What GOP wanted: Make some budget cuts and put the money toward road program, redirect $25 million a year in severance-tax funds to the program and, when the economy recovers, start with a $10 million allocation in the general-fund budget and grow it by $10 million a year for 10 years.

* Compromise: None. Democratic plan stayed in place.

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