DENVER—A proposal to eventually get rid of current budgetary spending limits is headed to the governor.
The Colorado Senate voted late Thursday to back the version of the proposal (Senate Bill 228) passed by the House with the support of Gov. Bill Ritter.
Currently, the general state budget can grow by only up to 6 percent a year. Any leftover revenue must be spent first on highway construction and then other building projects.
The original bill would have eliminated the 6 percent limit right away. The final version delays that for at least eight years and sets aside money for transportation, building projects and a reserve fund in the meantime.
Democrats presented the measure as a compromise, but Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry said it still wouldn’t provide enough money for transportation. He called the complicated formula a “Rube Goldberg scheme.”
