Amidst calls for tax increases from some Democrats, Republicans this afternoon rallied on behalf of spending cuts.
The theme pressed throughout the rally: spend less.
GOP grassroots organizers, radio talk show hosts and Republican legislators, including House Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, gathered on the west steps of the state Capitol for the event coined “A Rally to Restrain State Government Spending.”
About 70 supporters looked on while holding an array of signs that featured slogans such as “no more taxes” or “taxed enough already.”
The rally was sponsored by Spend Less Now, an organization that urges Colorado legislators that raising taxes is not the answer to balancing the state’s budget.
“Republicans will not raise taxes on Colorado families and small business,” said McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, to cheers from the crowd. “The bottom line is, Colorado cannot afford the out-of-control spending seen the last four years.”
Colorado Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper last month unveiled a state budget that would seek deep cuts to K-12 education, higher education and state parks.
It’s a budget proposal that McNulty calls the most responsible one he’s seen in the last five years.
“The proposal recognizes the fact that Colorado has declining revenues. And it does a more responsible job of not spending money we don’t have,” added McNulty.
Last week state Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, announced he would file an initiative that would enact a three year 1.63 billion tax increase. The initiative, which came in response to the governor’s cuts to education, would ask voters in November to raise the state’s income tax from 4.63 percent to 5 percent and raise the state’s sales tax from 2.9 percent to 3 percent.
“I think Sen. Heath is moving in the wrong direction,” said McNulty, following the rally. “We didn’t get into this problem by government taxing too little, we got into this by government spending too much.”
Increasing taxes is not the answer, spending less is the answer, reiterated McNulty.
Heath, of course doesn’t see it that way.
“If you look at it, we are not a ‘high taxing’ state,” said Heath. “The most important thing for a democracy to do is educate it’s citizens. That’s why I’m doing this.”
A report released two weeks ago by the University of Denver’s Center for Colorado’s Economic Future found Colorado’s economy is expected to come roaring back next year, but even with several years of robust growth that will follow, revenues won’t grow fast enough to keep up with the demands of schools, prisons and health care for the poor.
While some Democrats looked at the report and said the state needed to increase revenues, Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, said the state instead has a spending problem.
The Colorado Center on Law and Policy supports the former view. They are pushing a separate citizen initiative that would ask voters to raise as much as $1.5 billion annually by returning the state to a graduated income tax and extended sales taxes to include services.
