August 10, 2005 08:00 AM UTC

Denver Post Chastises C&D Opponents

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Denver Post has an editorial today calling on Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman to support Referenda C&D under the basis that he hasn’t put forth a suitable plan instead – which is something we think is going to hurt political opponents of the NO on C&D campaign.

We accept Marc Holtzman at his word – that he is still running for governor, despite his bizarre off-again, on-again performance last week. The political neophyte first said he was suspending his campaign to focus on opposing the budget reform package on the Nov. 1 ballot. Then he said he had made a poor “choice of words” and was still in the race.

If Referendum C fails, the state budget in the fiscal year that starts next July 1 will have to decline from the current year’s level by $208 million, according to the Office of State Budget and Planning. That’s not a reduction in the rate of increase – it’s an actual cut from this year’s spending level, a consequence of the ratchet effect in the 1992 Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Mandated increases in K-12 public school aid and federal programs such as Medicaid will add another $200 million to the Colorado budget. That means $408 million would have to be cut from unprotected state programs ranging from prisons to higher education.

Holtzman’s attempt (even if poorly worded) to draw Congressman Bob Beauprez into the C&D discussion was a politically smart move because the latter has been pretty vague on where he stands. But the Post is correct in pointing out that Holtzman and others don’t really have a suggestion for what to do instead. Republican Senator John Andrews’ waffling on the issue is a good example of that, because while he may be against C&D, he doesn’t have another solution for how to fix a state budget that – despite what opponents say – really does need fixing.

The Post also takes on one of the opposition cries that Amendment 23 is actually to blame for the state’s budget woes – and not TABOR…

Holtzman has made vague suggestions that he wants to cut K-12 budgets, apparently willing to decimate education for young Coloradans. But even if he could convince voters to repeal Amendment 23, the initiative that protects K-12 budgets from rapacious politicos, the earliest such a vote would occur would be in November 2006. That won’t avert the budget crisis that would begin next July 1. Besides, eliminating the 1 percent per student funding increase above the rate of inflation required by Amendment 23 would save only $50 million a year – meaning Holtzman would still have to slash $358 million from other programs.

Holtzman should reverse course and support Owens on Referendums C and D. Neither he nor anyone else can provide a reasonable plan for cutting state programs by $408 million.

It’s a bad idea for Holtzman to talk about hurting public education in general, although talking bad about Amendment 23 may help him with Republican primary voters. What will be interesting is to see which Republican candidate – Holtzman or Beauprez – comes out with their own budget solving proposal first. You can’t just say ‘No’ and not propose your own solution.