A public feud between Republican Rep. Don Marostica and GOP bosses was settled behind closed doors Thursday, with party leaders saying he was never threatened for supporting an effort to repeal key restraint on the state budget.
Earlier in the day, there was talk around the Capitol and in the blogosphere that Marostica, R-Loveland, would be removed from his prestigious post on the Joint Budget Committee for his actions.
But after Marostica and House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, met privately with Colorado Republican Party chairman Dick Wadhams, the heat had died down.
“It’s over,” Marostica said following the meeting, adding that he was never threatened with the loss of his JBC seat. “I’ve got to get back to my party. They’ve got to trust me.”
May also said there was never a threat of losing the committee post, but he said Marostica wasn’t out of the woods yet.
“He still needs to do repair work with the caucus,” May said.
What started the blaze among Republicans was Marostica’s support for legislation that would repeal a provision that limits growth in spending from the state’s general fund — the pot of money from which most operating needs are paid — to no more than 6 percent a year.
Marostica joined Sen. John Morse, a Democrat from Colorado Springs, in sponsoring the bill at a news conference Thursday.
With only a few exceptions, the provision prohibits any money collected beyond the limit from going to operating needs — the ongoing costs of state government to fund prisons, schools, colleges and other services.
Any money collected beyond the 6 percent limit must go for roads and other construction needs.
The provision also requires that in years when the state’s general-fund spending drops, the 6 percent limit be placed on the new, lower total. Opponents of the restriction say it has caused the general fund to shrink by more than $1 billion since 2000.
For years, lawmakers had assumed that the 6 percent limit could not be changed without a constitutional amendment. That’s because of language in the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights that says any limits on “spending” can only be changed with voter approval.
But a legal opinion last year by former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Jean Dubofsky says that the provision, in fact, is not a spending limit but an “allocation” limit. If that’s the case, that means legislators could simply pass a bill to change the law, rather than send the issue before voters.
Marostica, though a co-sponsor, was the only Republican out of 32 lawmakers who signed onto the bill in support.
May has said in the past that he was willing to discuss changing the 6 percent limit, but only if there was guaranteed transportation funding and the creation of a rainy-day fund.
The measure to repeal the 6 percent limit, SB 228, also faces a tough road with Senate Republicans.
Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com
