January 24, 2009 06:49 PM UTC

Stimulus "Salvation" Uncertain

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• by: Colorado Pols

The swift deterioration of Colorado’s budget outlook is emerging as the most dire situation our elected leadership has faced in many, many years. Colorado certainly isn’t alone in facing major shortfalls, though, and the massive new federal economic stimulus package being put together in Congress is focused on the stabilization of state budgets. It’s the deus ex machina that everybody has been looking to the sky for as the state’s revenue projections grew bleaker and bleaker.

Or is it? Yesterday, the Colorado congressional delegation started putting some provisional numbers on the table, as the Rocky Mountain News reports:

Colorado stands to gain about $1 billion of federal stimulus money over the next two years, but state lawmakers worry that it won’t arrive in time to save the state from drastic budget cuts.

Even if the money arrives in a timely fashion, it won’t solve all of Colorado’s budget problems. The state faces a possible $1 billion deficit next fiscal year.

“It isn’t going to be enough to fill in all your needs,” said U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden…

No it isn’t. What’s more, time is of the essence–both for Congress to get the package through to President Obama’s desk, and for the Colorado legislature to budget the use of the funds, where the Denver Post picks up the story:

Perlmutter said the goal is to get the budget rescue money to states within 60 days after the bill is signed. That means the money could come to Colorado as soon as mid-April, he said.

Evan Dreyer, a spokesman for Gov. Bill Ritter, said the stimulus package is still a work in progress and it was premature to respond.

The problem, of course, is that the state needs to have a clear idea of the expected amounts and allocations in order to set the budget for the coming year. The uncertainty created by this situation is also sure to be exploited by Republicans, who are already asserting that the anticipation of undetermined stimulus funds should not forestall the expected massive cuts to be unveiled next week. From the Rocky:

Earlier, Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, expressed concern that lawmakers were relying too much on a federal bailout.

“If we think Colorado’s economic woes are simply going to be swept away by a torrent of ‘free’ money from the federal government . . . we should think again,” he said.

We think just about everybody agrees with this statement on principle, but a different solution than Josh Penry would prefer seems likely: minimizing budget cuts for the next year with stimulus money, then addressing long-term with the voters the constitutional chokeholds at the state level that leave us perpetually on the brink of crisis.

If there’s real “salvation” to be had anywhere in this grim story the latter is the best hope for it, though it’s the part Penry will probably fight to the last bunker. For now, in the interest of making sure that federal stimulus money comes through ahead of Long Bill Day, there are two local Congressmen we can think of with excellent high-volume office phone systems you might want to try out.