DENVER-
Lawmakers can’t find money to help pay for college and life insurance for Colorado National Guard soldiers who had to leave their families and jobs to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Legislators acknowledged Wednesday that as the session winds down, they are having trouble finding the money without cutting other programs or violating the state’s spending restrictions.
Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, wants National Guard members and their families made eligible for in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities and for the $2,670 stipends in-state students will get next year. That’s expected to help 34 members and their relatives at a cost of $90,780.
But the problem is that the state’s budget is only allowed to grow by 6 percent a year and this year’s $17.8 billion budget is already hitting that ceiling. Spending a dollar more would require cutting a dollar somewhere else.
So McNulty said he plans to ask the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday to forget the stipends, for now, and just give National Guard students a break with in-state tuition. He’s not sure if any people would take advantage of that without the extra help but it at least gives him more time to continue to look for money in the budget after the session ends.
“Everybody agrees it’s a good bill but we can’t find $90,000 to spend,” said McNulty, who calls the current budget process “broken”.
His proposal would also apply to active duty military members on temporary assignment to Colorado as well as their families. Currently, members permanently assigned to Colorado posts are eligible for in-state tuition.
Under his revised plan, state schools would be expected to lose about $120,000 because the students would be eligible for the lower tuition rate. The funds used to operate state universities don’t have a spending limit and schools would be expected to absorb that loss.
Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, thinks lawmakers should spend $90,000 to pay for life insurance premiums for National Guard members for one year after they return from duty. With more frequent deployments the norm, Romer said it would help them as they try to get their lives and finances back in order.
“I think it’s time to put our money where our mouth is on Iraq,” he said.
Romer originally proposed having the state pay part of the premiums for deployed National Guard members but since then the federal government has decided to pay the full cost. The Senate Appropriations Committee delayed a final vote on the bill because they’re not sure where the money would come from.
Other spending proposals for veterans are advancing. State senators are looking at spending $300,000 next year to provide counseling for the spouses and children of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in Colorado Springs. That money would come from the state’s tobacco settlement.
Members of the House also backed spending about $900,000 to help upgrade veterans nursing homes amid questions of patient neglect and crumbling buildings.
Rep. Joe Rice, D-Littleton, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, said Colorado spends 98 cents per veteran each year—the lowest amount among the approximately 35 states he’s surveyed. He said most states spend between $7 and $12. He thinks the money the state plans to spend on veterans next year will be an improvement.
“I’d like to start measuring that in dollars and cents instead of just cents,” said Rice, who served two tours in Iraq before being elected last fall.
