DENVER—Colorado could have as little as 120 days to spend federal stimulus money, and lawmakers are rushing to put together a package of bills to spend that money by later this week, Senate President Peter Groff said Monday.
Groff said if Congress agrees to an equitable distribution of federal funds, Colorado will get its fair share. He said if it’s based on needs, other states are in worse financial shape could get more money.
“We need to be prepared. If it’s new energy money, Colorado is prepared. If it’s education reform, Colorado is positioned to receive the money,” Groff said.
Gov. Bill Ritter has said his administration will outline proposed spending cuts for next year’s budget at a hearing Tuesday, and the news is expected to be grim.
Higher education could be among the hardest hit programs during the next round of cuts because it’s not protected by the state constitution, Groff said. He said higher education was just beginning to recover from the last recession when the latest recession hit.
“That’s one of the few areas we can cut,” Groff said during a meeting with reporters.
Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, said the legislature’s interim committee on job creation has 30 bills ready to roll out during the next three weeks.
“We want to be in position for dollars as early as February,” she said.
She said the state would have 120 days to get some of the projects under way or the state would lose the money.
Colorado could get about $1.3 billion this year under one version of the federal economic stimulus package being considered by Congress.
Included in that funding proposal moving through the House is $495 million that would help the state avoid looming budget cuts, according to an analysis provided by Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter on Friday.
Colorado would also get another $495 million to avoid budget cuts the following year for a total of $990 million over two years under the House plan.
The Senate is working on its own economic stimulus plan, and it’s not clear yet how much it would give states to balance their budgets. The two different versions would have to be reconciled, but that could happen quickly.
Perlmutter said any money set aside for plugging Colorado’s budget would have to be used to maintain jobs and even increase jobs in the state.
The $1.3 billion proposed for Colorado would also include about $500 million for highways and mass transit and $267 million for special education and school construction.
