General Assembly must deal with budget crunch

General Assembly must deal with budget crunch

October 4, 2001

Capitol Report
By State Senator Jim Isgar

It’s crunch time.

It was difficult enough to return to a second special session following the devastating events of Sept. 11, but the shortfall in projected state revenues for this fiscal year (made before the Sept. 11 attacks) makes a difficult session even tougher.

Estimates released just before legislators returned to work showed that the economy slumped suddenly in July and August, reducing what looked like a significant surplus to an un-known but much lower figure. The grim news will no doubt be grimmer in the next few months. These latest figures do not include the sharp economic drop that followed the terrorist attacks. Legislators will be seeing lots of numbers over the next weeks.

Like any family would do in times of a tight budget, it is time to sit down and talk about where we need to cut back and prioritize our needs. Residents of southwestern Colorado no doubt have seen some of the "hit lists" that included the funding of Wolf Creek tunnel construction and various Fort Lewis College projects. This list includes the renovation of the biology wing at Berndt Hall and others that may become victims of revenue shortfalls. More items may be included.

Legislators are trying to take a fair and fiscally responsible approach to the budget and are looking at the priorities. While the governor has said he wants to freeze all higher education capital projects that are in the pre-construction stages (he has instructed that projects under construction should continue) at the same time he wants to maintain funding of prisons and transportation projects. Members of the Joint Budget Committee have asked that higher education projects that involve private/public partnerships be reexamined for possible funding so that the private money tied to the projects is not lost. We may see new priority lists next week.

Also, the JBC asked Colorado Department of Transportation Director Tom Norton to reprioritize his "wish list" of projects and structure the highway projects so they fit within the budget. It seems both fair and fiscally responsible that everyone takes a little of the economic "hit" in the budget, not just higher education.

That’s why, as a member of the Government, Veterans and Military Relations & Transportation Committee, I voted last week to kill Senate Bills 17 and 18. These bills were designed to increase funding and remove triggers starting in fiscal year 2003-04. There is just too much uncertainty to obligate funding that far out now. My action does not affect current CDOT spending on highways. The governor’s plan was proposed before the Sept. 11 tragedy and before we received the recent bad state revenue forecast. The governor’s plan called for taking money from other programs in the general fund, $100 million from higher education capital projects and removing spending constraints or "triggers" that currently leave CDOT last on the spending list behind higher education and capital construction. I recognize that we have underfunded transportation in Colorado for years and years. But, I believe times like this require a great deal of caution and the consideration of revenue shortfalls before we can proceed on a transportation proposal of this magnitude. I think this is correct no matter what one’s political affiliation is. The trade-offs are not worth it and potential revenue shortfalls are just too dangerous right now.

We plan to have all of our work done by next Friday. It’s a daunting task, looking at the growth bills while economic growth seems to be slowing. We will solve the funding problems for breast and cervical cancer — this needs to be done for all low income Colorado women. State redistricting is still tied up in knots because of political bickering and attempts at gerrymandering on the Eastern Slope. I remain firmly supportive in keeping a federal representative district that keeps the Western Slope intact. I remain committed to getting the sensible things done for western Coloradoans in a fiscally responsible way.

I remain firmly behind efforts to find funding, as budget limitations permit, for tourism development and affordable housing. This special session is not the place for additional legislation and we will know with more certainty about our abilities to fund tourism development and affordable housing by the beginning of the regular session in January 2002. I will work hard on these issues. We need additional help, especially with a slowing economy, to keep our economy strong both at the state level and in District 6.

Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, represents the 6th District, which includes Cortez, in the state senate. Reach him at the Capitol by phone, (303) 866-4884; by fax (303-866-2012; or by e-mail at jimisgar@ qwest.net.