Senate lawmakers drove home the point today that state employees using state owned vehicles should reimburse the government anytime the vehicle is driven for personal use.

The measure under consideration would delineate between personal and official state use of vehicles.

House Bill 1287, once characterized as a ‘lead balloon that wouldn’t float’ by its sponsor in the Senate, Republican Bill Cadman of Colorado Springs, passed unopposed in the Senate by voice vote.  A final roll call vote will be taken on HB 1287 Wednesday, the final day of the 2010 legislative session.

Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver congratulated Cadman on getting his ‘lead balloon to fly’ because Steadman was counting on the bill to pass to capture the approximate $3 million in savings to the state.

“I was scrounging through the sofa cushions looking for spare change for some long bill (budget) amendments and this is one of the places I was looking to – the savings in this bill,” said Steadman.

Steadman also said that he agrees with the need for the bill.

“This is a very significant problem that’s been going on and we need to get a handle on it,” said Steadman.

Democratic Senator Bruce Whitehead of Hesperus, also a former state employee, said that not all state employees are abusing the use of state vehicles.

“There are many, many state employees that do not abuse this privilege, but there apparently are some that do,” said Whitehead  “(However), I think they are in the minority and I think that we need to get a handle on that problem.”

Cadman acknowledged Whitehead’s assessment, saying that the problem isn’t so much abuse as it is the lack of a clearly defined policy—giving the benefit of doubt to the employees who are simply doing what they have been authorized to do.

“We have allowed this practice to happen by not putting some guiderails in,” said Cadman. “The state employees that are doing so because they are authorized to do so.”

By putting the new policy in place, Colorado will be joining other states that have put in place similar policies regarding personal use of state vehicles.  The federal government already recognizes personal use of a state owned vehicle as a benefit and taxes the use as income.