Colorado budget writers warn "there will be blood"
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Colorado's budget writers are eyeing deep and permanent cuts to the state's next spending plan as lawmakers look to close a nearly $1 billion gap.
Why it matters: The unusually dire warnings set an ominous tone for the General Assembly's forthcoming session starting in January, given the state budget dictates the fate of much legislation.
What they're saying: "Everything is on the table this year," Joint Budget Committee chair Sen. Jeff Bridges (D-Greenwood Village) said at a recent meeting. "As much as I would like to just cut with a scalpel … there will be hatchets, there will be blood."
- "And I feel like lobbyists, in particular, and many [other lawmakers] have not gotten that. But this is going to be a bad year."
State of play: The governor's "belt-tightening" budget proposal identified about $640 million in potential trims to state programs, but lawmakers are exploring deeper cuts and asking staff to find millions in "budget reduction options" from each state agency.
The landscape is putting Democratic priority initiatives from prior years at risk, including a potential delay in the reintroduction of wolves to western Colorado to save at least $2 million in the next fiscal year.
- Other cuts being discussed could hit youth mental health, police oversight and the state fair.
- In addition, legislative budget writers are going line by line through agency budgets to uncover unspent dollars and contemplating fiscal maneuvers to find additional revenue.
Between the lines: Why the state needs to make cuts is a point of partisan tension in the budget committee hearings.
- Bridges blames the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights for capping spending, while Republican members in the minority on the committee point to new fees and overspending in recent years.
The other side: "The cuts we are making now is because we have overexpended, quite frankly for the last four years, and continue to overexpend," said Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, a Weld County Republican.