Gov. Bill Ritter signed a bill Thursday that will spend $24.4 million more of the state’s tobacco settlement money on health care, including at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. The Health Sciences Center will get $11.9 million next year with the rest of the money going toward things such as immunizations, drug and alcohol treatment and helping cover the costs of hospital patients who can’t afford to pay their bills.
To help balance the budget in previous years, about $30 million a year was taken from the tobacco fund to help provide more money for transportation. The measure (Senate Bill 97) moves that money back to health care programs.
Some objected to spending so much of the money on CU, arguing instead that it should be spent on programs that would more directly help groups like the developmentally disabled.
Ritter acknowledged that there are many health care needs but said Colorado should support the Health Sciences Center to keep in-state tuition low and to help it compete with other research institutions in other states.
“We think this was the right way to prioritize this,” he said.
