By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
Gov. Bill Ritter’s office is enraged that GOP lawmakers are suggesting that the governor would push to eliminate voter-enacted taxing and spending limits just to meet the full fiscal requests of his department heads.
Evan Dreyer, Ritter’s spokesman, told the Denver Daily News Wednesday that the governor has no intention of raising taxes or eliminating credits to raise an additional $8.5 billion a year to fully fund state services.
The $8.5 billion figure was reported to the Long-Term Fiscal Stability Commission last week by legislative analysts. The number was derived by taking reports from state agencies.
It would cost an additional $2.8 billion per year to fully fund K-12 schools, $2.5 billion for transportation and $750 million for higher education, to name a few of the reported figures.
GOP: Taxes would have to be raised to fulfill wishes
Republicans are suggesting that because the “wish list” comes from department heads — most of whom answer to the governor — the Ritter administration as a whole is setting the stage for fulfilling funding increases for each department. They argue that the only way to accomplish such an increase would be to raise income taxes, sales and use taxes, corporate taxes, gas taxes and vehicle-registration fees, to name a few. To do that, lawmakers would need to push for eliminating certain restrictions set by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
“Good grief, their wish list is more than double the state’s entire operating budget,” Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, said in a statement. “We can see where this is heading — toward trying to make the case for a slate of tax and fee hikes É”
Republicans point to fee increases pushed by Democrats this year, including a $250 million-per-year hike in vehicle-registration fees, which raised the price for average drivers by $30-$40.
They also point out that Democrats this year eliminated a 6 percent general fund spending limitation known as Arveschoug-Bird.
Political grandstanding by GOP?
But Ritter’s office suggests that concerns being raised by Republicans are only political grandstanding, and that it is ridiculous to assume that the governor would completely fulfill the requests of all his departments.
“It’s like every family and every business, you can only provide what you can afford ? it’s a pretty simple equation,” said Dreyer.
He added that the governor will not attempt to raise taxes or eliminate credits to fund state government.
“He has been asked, ‘Are you going to increase fees? Are you going to raise taxes? Are you going to eliminate tax credits in the current fiscal year in order to balance the budget?’” said Dreyer. “And time and again he has said, ‘No, those are not options right now.’”
Skeptical Republicans, however, say the Ritter administration needs to “cull wheat from chaff” before seeking more revenue. Sen. Mark Scheffel, R-Parker, has joined Brophy in the GOP’s early campaign this year against more government spending.
“Our first order of business shouldn’t be to press the public with massive tax and fee hikes, but to make tough choices about the money the public already gives us,” he said.
Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters
