Colorado citizens should be happy to know that the legislature is moving to keep faith with the voters who approved Referendum C last November. Yesterday, the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee started fast-tracking bills to spend roughly $107 million in Referendum C money in this fiscal year. The House Appropriations Committee unanimously approved all the proposals to restore money for health care and education programs.
Included in the proposals are $20 million to pay for school repair and construction called for in a federal lawsuit settlement and another $20 million for a new unit for the criminally insane in Pueblo. The JBC’s Rep. Bernie Buescher said the plan is for the state to pay off the entire $53.5 million for the new unit in three years, thus saving the state $30 million in financing costs and another $4 million in annual lease costs.
The six members of the bipartisan budget panel have toiled long and hard to reinstate money to programs decimated by the 2001 recession in a way that’s fair and equitable. With so many interests seeking a piece of the pie, divvying up the money hasn’t been easy. JBC Chair Tom Plant said the panel focused on programs that would save the state money in the long run and on programs eligible for federal matching funds.
The JBC proposals include restoring money for special education and gifted student programs; school breakfasts for poor children; a 1 percent rate increase for hospitals and community health centers that serve poor children, the elderly, disabled and legal immigrants; services for mentally ill adults; and care for 613 disabled infants and toddlers now on a waiting list. State colleges would get an increase in base funding; so would community mental health centers.
Another $38 million is earmarked for Gov. bill Owens’ Read to Achieve program, indigent care and maintenance at state colleges and universities, if an economic forecast due next week shows tax revenues are on track. More money also could be appropriated for roads beyond the $216 million allocated after Referendum C passed, perhaps totaling $300 million or more.
The full legislature now needs to move quickly to restore funding for these critical programs. We trust that JBC proposals for spending Referendum C money in the 2006-07 fiscal year, due later this month, will show similar care for the public’s money and the public’s needs.
