February 16, 2011 02:25 AM UTC

"Horrifying"--Hick's Proposed Budget Cuts Announced

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• by: Colorado Pols

Colorado Independent:

Education and state employees look to take the take the brunt of the state’s fiscal woes in the governor’s budget plan released today.

Gov. Hickenlooper’s proposal asks state employees to contribute another 2 percent of their salary into PERA on top of a 2.5 percent increase already in place and due to be extended.

His plan would further cut K-12 education by $375 million, which equates to approximately $500 per student. The plan further calls for cuts to higher education of $36 million. Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, said he questioned whether some of the proposals were either “principled or wise.”

The scope of the latest proposed cuts is staggering but probably without recourse, at least in the short term, due to the inability of the legislature to meaningfully raise revenue–most of the trimming of tax exemptions around the margins and other small-scale fixes within the legislature’s constitutional power have either already been done, or won’t raise enough to matter. As a press release from the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute below explains, there’s really nothing short of a major fiscal overhaul before the voters that can change fortunes here. Perhaps a serious consideration of that as these latest painful cuts take effect is the only upshot?

UPDATE: Minority Leader Sal Pace’s job isn’t to be all nicey-nice like the governor, statement:

“My priority as a legislator and a father of two young boys is to ensure that the children of Colorado have a bright future.  Providing our kids with a good education is our obligation as a state and an investment in our future.  We need an educated workforce to remain competitive in the global economy.  

While Democrats work to protect education funding – to prevent an increase in class size, the laying off of our teachers, and shorter school weeks- Republicans are fixated on creating special interest tax breaks as a means of addressing our budget woes. [Pols emphasis]

I applaud the Governor for initiating this very difficult discussion on our budget.  House Democrats remain committed to finding real, sustainable solutions for the future of this state.  We’re ready to sit down with the Governor and leaders from both chambers and both sides of the aisle to talk about long-term solutions for this state.”

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper today released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2011-12. Carol Hedges, director of the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, issued the following statement in response:

“The governor’s budget recommendations reflect grim reality. He has presented a balanced budget only through dramatic cuts to the education of our kids. That is not a viable path to a prosperous future, but the state is out of acceptable options for dealing with the persistent budget challenges.

“The governor and legislators have no good choices. Their hands are tied. But our state Constitution, through the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, gives voters in Colorado the opportunity to say ‘no’ to these kinds of devastating choices. Now is the time for a more complete conversation. Now is the time for voters to stand up for their kids and their communities.

“In the short term, a $497 per pupil cut to education spending will mean classrooms that are even more crowded, students getting less individualized attention and deep reductions in the services kids need to learn to compete in today’s economy. In the long term, failure to invest in our kids will put Colorado at a huge disadvantage economically.

“The proposed spending cuts will also hit college students hard, as state spending per student will be $878 per student less than last year. The result will be increases in tuition and fees that will make a college degree out of the question for literally hundreds of thousands of Colorado residents. Unemployment in Colorado is already at a 28-year high – it’s hard to imagine how our state will recover if we don’t invest in an educating our future workforce.

“Our state government simply needs more revenue to do the things Coloradans expect, and voters have the power to change our future.”

The Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, a project of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, is pursuing a measure for the state’s November 2011 election that would increase revenue and make the state’s tax system more fair. A key feature is a restructuring of the state personal income tax, establishing six income brackets with six rates and resulting in all Coloradans investing a similar share of their income to support education and other vital community services.

Coloradans can learn more about the tax proposal and sign up to show support at our website.

http://www.cclponline.org/fiscal_policy/page/fair-tax-proposal-2011-1