We heard one of the “just vote no” activists explain the other day that the choice on Referendums C and D is simple: who should have your money, you or the legislature.
That seems easy. Me!
But an appreciation of the chores of state government leads to a different conclusion.
If the fiscal reform measures are defeated Nov. 1, Colorado will be forced to make deep cuts in programs that benefit all Coloradans – higher education, highways and health care services, for example.
Hank Brown warns, “If Referendum C doesn’t pass, within a decade there will not be a single penny of money in Colorado’s general fund going to higher education.” Brown, a fiscal conservative who’s taken the helm at the University of Colorado, is stating the simple truth. State support for higher education has already dropped by 20 percent in the last five years. As a result, a study from the College Board shows Colorado colleges have suffered the largest tuition increase in all the 50 states – an average of 17 percent.
Tuitions went even higher at Colorado’s premier research universities, averaging 28 percent at CU and 30 at CSU. Referendum C’s defeat would likely send tuition at these schools into the $8,000-$10,000 a year range, while many smaller colleges and community colleges could close.
Defeat of Referendums C and D would also force Colorado to postpone – perhaps for decades – many of the 55 high priority highway projects in Referendum D. Additionally, defeat would force Colorado to scale back health care services for elderly and low-income citizens.
Voters are wrestling with the arguments for and against C and D, but a recent voter survey makes it clear that draconian cuts are not what Coloradans are looking for. In a poll published in last Sunday’s Denver Post, a majority said they want to protect spending levels for public schools, community colleges, state universities, prisons, roads and Medicaid. Fifty-six percent said they would support across-the-board cuts. Unfortunately, the state constitution and federal mandates rule out such across-the oard trims.
Forget the claims by anti-referendum forces that Colorado’s state budget is a healthy $15.1 billion. That includes $3.6 billion in federal funds that can only be spent for earmarked purposes. Another $5.3 billion come from user fees ranging from college tuition to fishing licenses that must be spent for specific purposes. That leaves just $6.2 billion in the general fund – which supports state operations. When federal mandates and state constitutional requirements are met, Gov. Bill Owens estimates that only $1.3 billion of Colorado’s general fund budget can really be cut – and that total includes the $597 million higher education budget as well as the $533 prison budget.
Owens’ budget chief, Henry Sobonet, calculates that if Referendum C fails, those big bad legislators will have to cut $369 million from unprotected programs in next year’s budget alone. That virtually guarantees that higher education, health and highways will be slashed to the bone.
