Gov. Bill Ritter on Monday signed a $17.6 billion budget that increases funding for colleges and universities, directs new money to anti-crime programs, and includes a modest expansion of health coverage for uninsured children.
Ritter, a Democrat, called the budget a “moral document” reflecting the state’s priorities.
Officials used a new accounting process that excluded funds that had always been counted twice, making this year’s budget appear smaller than last year’s.
Ritter said this year’s budget increased funding for higher education by $65.8 million, or 8.8 percent, bringing the state’s colleges and universities back to funding levels seen in the early part of the decade.
The governor, a former Denver district attorney, pointed to $5.7 million in funds aimed at preventing people from committing crimes once they’re released from jail. Officials hope the programs will save the state $58 million over time.
And the governor said he and lawmakers had taken a significant step by approving a $9.6 million program to provide health care for an estimated 5,358 children who are eligible but not enrolled in the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan. A separate bill calls for a $17.5 million expansion of the children’s insurance plan that, by 2011, would cover 9,000 more uninsured kids.
The budget also pumps $28 million to doctors and hospitals in the form of higher Medicaid fees.
Ritter said the budget crafted under Democratic rule would “leave Colorado a better place than we found it.”
Republicans, however, pointed to 1,334 new employees who would be hired this year. Nearly three-quarters of those will go to corrections, higher education and the courts.
Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, called the budget “reckless.”
“Hiring additional employees, 1,300 this year but also 1,300 last year — that’s 2,600 employees — spending every last nickel while we’re heading into a recession, that certainly seems reckless to me.”
Ritter bristled.
“Am I going to stand here and tell you that I’m embarrassed that we’re adding corrections officers when we’re adding to their budget, when we’re adding inmates, when we’re building a new prison?” Ritter asked. “No, we’re not going to do that.
“It’s wrong for Republicans to criticize us and say it’s bloated.”
Other budget highlights:
• $76.8 million for state employee pay increases.
• $10.1 million increase for the Department of Corrections to handle a 4.3 percent rise in the prison population.
• $16.4 million increase to programs for the developmentally disabled.
• $2 million to match rebates by local utilities for residents who install solar systems.
• $13.6 million increase for higher child-welfare caseloads.
• $188 million for capital projects, including $13.1 million for the University of Colorado Denver Anchutz Medical Campus, $7.8 million for the Colorado Department of Revenue’s new computer system, $7 million for engineering buildings at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and $19.2 million for veterinary science labs at Colorado State University.
Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com
