DENVER—The Colorado House tentatively approved a proposal by Gov. Bill Ritter and Democratic lawmakers to remove a 6 percent limit on growth in general fund spending and replace it with limits based on personal income growth.
Supporters said Monday the budget fix is needed because current limits won’t allow the state to recover when the economy rebounds after the recession.
Republicans opposed the plan. They said the Legislature is just trying to find a loophole in the state’s tough limits on taxes and spending.
“It is extremely disingenuous for the Democrats to remove this spending cap under the guise of creating transportation funding,” said House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker.
Republicans won initial approval for an amendment that would have transferred funding for transportation to education, but Democrats demanded a formal vote and the amendment was defeated.
May said the political ploy proves that there is no guaranteed funding for transportation as promised by Democrats and Gov. Bill Ritter.
Rep. Lois Court, D-Denver, said lawmakers are not violating the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which limits taxes and spending in the state budget, because the state is not getting any more money. She said the Legislature is just changing the way the money is spent.
“It was never, ever a spending limit,” she told her colleagues.
Current state law allows the total general fund budget—which covers such big-ticket items as public schools, prisons and higher education—to grow by 6 percent a year. If the law passes, that cap would be replaced with higher spending limits based on personal income.
Court said personal income is a better indicator of economic growth and will allow the state to bounce back when the recession ends.
The bill faces a third reading before it goes back to the Senate for consideration of amendments.
