After a day of heated negotiations, statehouse Democrats and Republican Gov. Bill Owens on Tuesday forged a deal to provide ongoing financial aid to help low-income Coloradans pay their energy bills.
The bill, which will be introduced today, calls for four years of funding to help with high heating bills and to weatherize homes to reduce future bills.
“I spent all day negotiating,” said Rep. Bernie Buescher, D- Grand Junction, “so I’m delighted.”
The bill calls for $20 million in assistance for heating bills this year and $4 million to help homeowners reduce their energy costs in the future.
During the next three years, the state would set aside $7 million to help poor people pay their utility bills.
The state would also provide funding for home-improvement projects designed to reduce future heating bills. In 2007, the state would provide $4 million, $5 million in 2008 and $6 million the following year.
At midday, Buescher was obviously frustrated and was preparing to introduce a bill that was not supported by Owens.
“It’s gotten pretty push-and- shove this morning,” Buescher told his fellow House Democrats during a lunch meeting. “We’re prepared to run this bill this afternoon.”
In late December, Owens proposed that the state provide an extra $20 million to a program that helps low-income Coloradans with their heating bills.
Democrats proposed another $7 million that would be used to help homeowners cut their energy costs by improving insulation and installing other weatherproofing measures.
But the key problem was Buescher’s push to make the funding stream permanent. For the past two years, Owens has made holiday-season, headline- grabbing announcements of extra money for the program.
Buescher said the funding, which comes from a boost in tax revenues from oil and gas exploration in the state, should not be a political windfall for the governor. Rather, he said, that money offers a permanent stream of funding.
Buescher has proposed a formula that would send a portion of those tax revenues into the heating-assistance program.
“We pass a bill this time of the year every year,” Buescher said. “I believe we should make a commitment to take care of people every year.”
Dan Hopkins, spokesman for Owens, said government officials can’t reliably predict how much assistance will be needed.
“There’s no crystal ball that says we’re going to need this much or less,” Hopkins said. “The most important thing right now is helping people who are in very desperate straits trying to pay their utility bills.”
Buescher and Hopkins said the compromise bill would be introduced this morning. They hope to get it to the governor’s desk to become law within a week.
“We’ve got folks out there today trying to figure out how to pay their utility bills,” Buescher said.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
