Gunnison news-champion., 1921-04-15
CLOSING DAYS OF Twenty THIRD
GENERAL ASSEMBLY DESCRIBED
by SENATOR ROCKWELL
Denver. April ., 1921.

Denver. April 9, 1921.
The last few days Of the Twenty
Third General Assembly lasted So
hours. By six o'clock Tuesday even
ing all the bills had been disposed Of
by both houses, except two which were
IN conference; one Of them, H.B. IS,
having to do with the revision Of the
Board Of Correction laws, Was settled
that night: the other, the Highway
Law, kept Us for the balance Of the
long stretch Six different conference
committees were appointed by the
Highway Bill. The first Ave could not
even come close to agreeing on any
compromise which would satisfy both
Houses; and il looked Wednesday
, afternoon, after IS hours Of effort,
as il we should have TO adjourn with
out changing the present Highway
Law in any particular. This would
have meant that ten or twelve mil
lion dollars would be spent in the
next two years in the same log-rolling
manner that has been the case the
last four years. About FIVE o'clock
! Wednesday evening, Senator Renshaw
of Idaho Springs and j were appoint
ed conferees on the part of the SEN
ate for this bill. and we were given
to understand that this would be the
last effort Unless we could agree on
some compromise that would satisfy
both houses, the legislature would ad-
journ without any highway legisla-
tion.
l Immediately went to the speaker
of the house and asked him to reap
point the same committee that had
previously been in conference, name
ly, Representative Gordon, an attor-
ney from Lamar; McGinnis, banker
from n rural district; and Gotthelf, n
stockman from Saguache. With these
men, all OF whom seemed dcsirous of
a compromise and fair-minded, I
thot that we might come to some sat
iisfactory solution Of the apparently
f, ,unsurmountable differences between
the Senate and the House. After
six hours Of labor, we arrived at a
compromise which was accepted un-
animously by the Republicans in both
houses.
This compromise authorizes the
governor TO employ highway engin-
eer who shall have many years actual
experience in engineering and road
building who is entirely responsible
to the governor; in other words, q
centralized responsibility and auth
ority.
A Highway Commission or High
way Advisory Board Is established,
composed of seven persons appointed
by the governor from the seven road
districts Of the state which ! named
/ in former letter. This Board will
meet at least twice q year and as
many other times as the Governor
may call them together. They must
make general regulations concerning
salaries, wages, etc. Of the High
way Department. They have the fin
al decision as to the abandonment Of
former state highways or of specify
ing new ones. Once a year they, with
the Highway Engineer shall prepare
a budget for submission to the Gov
ernor and the governor must prepare
| the final budget therefrom. The
Highway Engineer must report to
this board or commission semi-annu-
ally as to construction work, con-
tracts, etc and. must make such
special investigation as the board may
require. In fact, we have branches
Of the Highway Department, one the
Legislative and advisory body, con-
sisting of the Highway Board Of
seven, which represents public opinion
/ in the various sections of the state,
and the other, the executive or ad-
ministrative branch, consisting of
! the Governor and Highway Engineer
on whose shoulders falls the respon-
sibility of construction and properly
maintaining the roads in the various
parts of the state. In other words,
there is no opportunity for log-roll-
ing or trading, such as is the case at
| present, and il we don't get 100 per
cent value for dollar spent, we
know absolutely who is responsible.
As / said at the beginning, this was
a compromise and represented the
best that could be accomplished with
out adjourning and thus going back
70 the old highway commission which
has proved so unsatisfactory to the
people of the state.
The Enabling Act for the High
way Bonds voted for by the people
last fall is now q law. II provides
that two million dollars worth Of
bonds shall be issued from June !,
1921 and three million June 1, 1922,
to draw interest ct ave per cent an
J mum and the principal becomes due in
thirty years. This bond issue Is to
be divided, one-half to 60 to counties
on the basis Of state routes and state
highways, the other one-half to be
used to meet federal aid awarded TO
the state Of Colorado by . United
States Congressional Act.
I was disappointed that the lower