Gov. Bill Ritter’s admittedly “ambitious” policy goals will likely have to wait, because former Gov. Bill Owens’ final batch of budget requests and skyrocketing agency costs have left virtually no room in the budget for new programs.
Members of the Joint Budget Committee said this week that Ritter’s plans to provide every Coloradan with access to basic health care, reshape the state’s energy economy and tackle the state’s ballooning corrections needs, while admirable, will not be feasible this year because of the lack of slack in the state budget.
Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, said Owens’ final batch of budget requests combined with the ballooning costs of prisons, the judiciary and other necessary expenditures has removed the possibility of any major new policy initiatives.
“The way things have come together, it has made for a very difficult budget year,” Buescher said. “We are already over budget for next year, so all the flexibility we would normally have is gone.”
A review of Gov. Bill Owens’ budget requests from fiscal year 2001-2002 through fiscal year 2006-2007 sat below 6 percent, the maximum increase in state spending allowed under the Arveschoug-Bird Amendment to the Colorado Constitution. However, Owens’ request for the 2007-2008 fiscal year equaled the 6 percent spending growth cap, leaving virtually no room for Ritter to fund his own initiatives.
Because of the schedule for the Colorado budget process, outgoing governors set the budget for the first year of their successors. Hence, Owens’ budget requests for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, essentially dictate how much money will be available for programs in Ritter’s first year in office.
Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, who sits on the Joint Budget Committee, has accused the Owens administration of not confronting the state’s growing prison populations and other problems that have spurred the skyrocketing costs evident in this year’s budget requests.
“There were a lot of things that basically (the Owens administration) felt they could keep under wraps until the new administration came in and let them deal with it,” Pommer said.
The Department of Corrections has seen a net increase of more than 1,000 prisoners a year. This skyrocketing demand for prison beds has sparked a budget request for 200 extra guards.
This request comes as part of the Owens administration’s request for nearly 1,000 new full-time employees, which has contributed to the 2007-2008 fiscal year budget requests eclipsing the state’s available funds by millions of dollars.
Ritter did not make explicit mention of Owens’ budget requests in his opening remarks for his “State of the State” address, but he did hint that his goals for the state will require some fiscal tight-rope walking.
“Our fiscal reality forces us to be innovative and creative,” Ritter said then.
Rep. Al White, R-Winter Park, however, said he did not think Owens was trying to hamstring the Ritter administration with a maxed-out appropriations request.
“His obligation is to not exceed that 6 percent,” said White, a member of the Joint Budget Committee. “I think he worked hard not to do that. He could have sprinkled money in a lot of places, but he prioritized the 6 percent into the most important (places).”
White attributed Owens’ 6 percent budget growth and the budget requests above and beyond the cap to Colorado’s increasing Medicaid case load, mounting prison population and the state’s growing education needs.
Because of these needs, White said he doubted Ritter would radically change or even tweak Owens’ budget requests.
Ritter’s budget changes are due by the second week of February to the Joint Budget Committee.
“I don’t think it was an attempt by Gov. Owens to subvert Gov. Ritter or to tie his hands,” White said. “Ritter has the ability to go through the budget and see if there is unnecessary spending and come up with reductions in budget. And having gone through the budget, I don’t think there is an unnecessary fat to be cut out of those requests.”
The impact of Owens’ final budget requests, however, is not limited to tying Ritter’s hands. Just as the tight budget will effectively delay or kill any sweeping reforms from the executive branch, White said any bill with a massive fiscal note likely will not make it past the appropriations committee.
“It means it’s going to be tough,” White said. “There’s no money to play with.”
Buescher said the budget eventually will get balanced as lawmakers pick through Owens’ final budget requests and make room for the new governor.
“We’re finding places where we can cut,” Buescher said. “Some spending was inappropriate in the governor’s request, things that are being paid for with General Fund dollars when they should be paid with user fees. There are also places where efficiencies can be improved.”
Buescher said the Joint Budget Committee will find places to cut funding to balance the budget, but he cautioned that his colleagues and the governor need to realize that new programs will mean cutting old programs.
“There’s room for incremental improvements,” Buescher said. “But to fund something new, we’re going to have to cut something old out.”
Ritter said in the run up to the Feb. 9 deadline for his addendums to Owens’ final batch of budget requests, he plans to have his staff carve out some fiscal breathing room to divert some funds to encourage the use of renewable energy sources.
“In the next year, we have to take care of some of the issues that Gov. Owens raised when he submitted his supplemental (budget requests),” Ritter said Saturday.
Ritter said while the current budget year will be tight for every part of state government, in the longer term he plans to closely examine government spending to fund places where small savings can be found: the “Government Efficiency and Management Performance Review” he announced in his “State of the State” address.
In spite of the year’s tight budget, Ritter’s most ambitious ideas, including providing all Coloradans with access to some basic form of health care and possible improvements to the state’s transportation infrastructure, will not be affected this year.
Ritter has said he plans to institute blue ribbon commissions to review these problems and provide possible solutions. Because of the commission process, Ritter said, his major reform packages will not run into the incredible lack of budgetary slack in the 2007-2008 fiscal year.
Mike Saccone can be reached via e-mail at msaccone@gjds.com.
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