Republicans unveiled their own budget fix Wednesday, saying it’s an easier and more conservative solution than an effort already underway.
Part of what the state now dedicates to K-12 education — about $2.5 billion over a decade — would instead fund both roads and a state savings account under the GOP plan.
And with no constitutional changes required, it would not take a lengthy ballot initiative to pass, Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, said.
“It solves their problem in a simple way,” Penry said. His plan, which would keep the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights intact, needs “late bill” approval from Democratic leadership.
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, rejected the idea as a media stunt that does not solve the larger budget problems embedded in the Colorado Constitution.
Romanoff on Wednesday introduced a competing plan to end TABOR-required state spending caps and mandated increases in education funding — pressures that eat away at higher education, roads and other state needs.
It’s unclear whether the speaker can garner support from the two-thirds of the House it would take to get his resolution on its way to the ballot, though at least two Republicans support it.
The Penry plan revolves around Amendment 23, a voter-approved provision that bases K-12 spending on the number of students and the rate of inflation. And until 2011, the amendment requires the state to tack on an additional 1 percent each year.
Penry wants to retain that 1 percent after its part of the amendment expires — about $59 million the first year — directing two-thirds of the money to transportation and another third to a state savings account.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
