There is an old adage that headlines sell newspapers. I couldn’t help but see a bit of that at work when Governor Ritter issued his amended budget, as he is required—by law—to do at this time of year.
The Governor needed to find $60-million in spending cuts or revenue increases in order to balance the budget. The Denver Post painted the image of Ritter turning to medical marijuana—were they implying he had to be stoned in order to make the cuts he made? One of them was actually quite intriguing: no new clothes or cash for inmates leaving prison. What? We have a stoned Governor who is turning out naked prisoners? They should be easy to recognize.
With all the sensational headlines, the point that was missed was that Colorado DOES have to balance its budget each and every year. When the budget gets balanced, the governor looks in every nook and cranny for money that can be used to fill gaps in necessary services or for services that can be cut.
The biggest story, in my mind, is how important the oil and gas industry is to Colorado’s budget. Severance taxes and lease revenue from the extractive industries were moved out of cash accounts (money ear-marked for specific purposes) and into the Colorado operating budget. That’s a little like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Eventually those funds will need to go back into the cash accounts. Moving the money into the operating budget means that grants that should have gone to local governments to shore up their budgets were suspended. Some of those suspended grants were supposed to go to communities who face new expenses associated with oil and gas activities.
Another big story, in my mind, is how our Secretary of State ran his office so efficiently that some of the money that the legislature gave to him wasn’t needed, so it returned to the operating budget to shore up other departments. (Elect Bernie Buescher)
Another story is that state employees will continue to take cuts in pay and face forced days off without pay in order to balance the budget.
Things could have been a lot worse. The state’s Medicare budget got shored up by federal money and income tax revenues are up, as some Coloradans are returning to work.
Homework:
Ritter Turns to Medical Marijuana to Balance Budget
Pot Fees Helping Budget
Pot Issue Heading for Vote
Reefer Madness
Energy Revenue to Fill Gap in Budget
Ritter Slices State Budget
The Governor needed to find $60-million in spending cuts or revenue increases in order to balance the budget. The Denver Post painted the image of Ritter turning to medical marijuana—were they implying he had to be stoned in order to make the cuts he made? One of them was actually quite intriguing: no new clothes or cash for inmates leaving prison. What? We have a stoned Governor who is turning out naked prisoners? They should be easy to recognize.
With all the sensational headlines, the point that was missed was that Colorado DOES have to balance its budget each and every year. When the budget gets balanced, the governor looks in every nook and cranny for money that can be used to fill gaps in necessary services or for services that can be cut.
The biggest story, in my mind, is how important the oil and gas industry is to Colorado’s budget. Severance taxes and lease revenue from the extractive industries were moved out of cash accounts (money ear-marked for specific purposes) and into the Colorado operating budget. That’s a little like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Eventually those funds will need to go back into the cash accounts. Moving the money into the operating budget means that grants that should have gone to local governments to shore up their budgets were suspended. Some of those suspended grants were supposed to go to communities who face new expenses associated with oil and gas activities.
Another big story, in my mind, is how our Secretary of State ran his office so efficiently that some of the money that the legislature gave to him wasn’t needed, so it returned to the operating budget to shore up other departments. (Elect Bernie Buescher)
Another story is that state employees will continue to take cuts in pay and face forced days off without pay in order to balance the budget.
Things could have been a lot worse. The state’s Medicare budget got shored up by federal money and income tax revenues are up, as some Coloradans are returning to work.
Homework:
Ritter Turns to Medical Marijuana to Balance Budget
Pot Fees Helping Budget
Pot Issue Heading for Vote
Reefer Madness
Energy Revenue to Fill Gap in Budget
Ritter Slices State Budget
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