It’s Politics 101. But some prominent Colorado Republicans are pretending not to understand it.
When a governor, trying to balance a budget, cuts back on any level of law enforcement, the fiscal situation must be dire. So when Gov. Bill Ritter tried to trim some (but not all) of the money available to local law enforcement to operate the so-called “Heat is On” checkpoints set up to snare drunken drivers on holidays, he wasn’t doing it for laughs.
Who wants to be seen as going easy on drunken drivers?
“There are cuts that need to be made, but threatening DUI enforcement is not one of them,” said Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, who says he plans to introduce legislation next year that would create tougher penalties for drunken drivers.
While we have endorsed efforts to toughen those penalties, we don’t see that Ritter’s attempted plan would have hampered such legislation. Nor would it necessarily have been permanent. Money for “Heat is On,” which pays overtime for officers manning the checkpoints and extra patrols, could have been restored when the economy revives.
Instead of holding his ground, Ritter quickly reversed his plan Wednesday to divert $1.3 million from a drunken driving fund into a fund meant to continue providing drug-and-alcohol treatment programs to keep drunken drivers off Colorado’s roads in the first place.
Ritter’s office says he reversed course after police officials convinced him the enforcement programs were vital.
Since 1995, more than 57,000 people have been arrested in Colorado for DUI during “Heat Is On” enforcement periods alone, the agencies reported.
Point taken, assuming all of those arrests were made in those hours when officers were working overtime with “Heat,” and not just on regular patrols those weekends.
Still, we think the governor’s decision to focus on prevention was a justifiable one and note that many worthy programs, not just this one, are being trimmed.
For that matter, another $1.6 million in state and federal money will continue to be available for “Heat is On.”
At issue was money in the Law Enforcement Assistance Fund, according to The Post’s Kevin Vaughan. About one-third of a $90 fine paid by convicted drunken drivers goes to fund DUI enforcement.
Ritter’s office says continued funding of addiction treatment programs remains a priority. The governor has asked staff to find other cuts in order to preserve the treatment options.
Colorado’s lawmakers have many more tough decisions ahead of them as the recession and eventual recovery will continue to limit state spending.
Sadly, that means we will see more of these kinds of painful decisions.
