Many Colorado government offices will be closed today as thousands of state employees take another furlough day ordered by Gov. Bill Ritter to help save money, The Denver Post reports.

Editor’s Note: Listen to Gov. Ritter’s budget press conference here.

Gov. Bill Ritter said today he plans to fill a remaining $47.5 million hole in the state budget by ending some tax breaks sooner and withholding more in severance tax grants to communities affected by energy development, The Denver Post reports.

20100127_Ritter_Budget

A State Parks subcommittee that in 2009 gave grant applicants hundreds of thousands of dollars more than they asked for has come under scrutiny as environmental groups, hunters and law enforcement agencies seek a share of annual off-road vehicle sticker fees, The Denver Post reports. Rep. Mark Ferradino, D-Denver, who last year considered taking some of the off-roaders’ money to cope with a massive state budget hole, questioned whether the panel tried to spend down funds to make them a less likely target for future raids.

STATE BILL COLORADO
Legislators and dignitaries packed Colorado’s House of Representatives on Thursday to hear the governor’s annual address. Here’s how news orgs covered it:

AP: Gov. Bill Ritter urged lawmakers Thursday not to stand on the sidelines of Colorado`s fiscal crisis, saying partisan criticism and “$10 solutions to billion-dollar problems” will do nothing for future generations.

The Denver Post: Gov. Bill Ritter gave his last State of the State address Thursday, calling on lawmakers for help in making “tough, unpopular — but necessary — decisions” to help balance the state budget.

The Denver Daily News: Ritter also spoke of raising the state’s renewable energy standard to 30 percent by 2020, eliminating the Colorado Student Assessment Program, reforming aspects of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and reining in abuses with the burgeoning medical marijuana industry.

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: Though not singling out specific GOP legislators, Ritter called on people not to sit on the sidelines, criticize efforts to address the state’s problems and propose $10 solutions to fix a billion-dollar problem. “He was looking right at me when he said it, too,” said Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction. “That comment is about as genuine as the thriving nature of the new energy economy. It’s just not factual.”

The Durango Herald: Three years ago, Gov. Bill Ritter was all about the “new energy economy.” On Thursday, his final State of the State address was colored by a “new economic reality.

The Pueblo Chieftain: The governor said progress was made during his first three years in office, but more is needed to right what ails the state’s finances.

9News: Adam Schrager reports.

Fox31: Eli Stokols reports.

KCNC News4: Terry Jessup reports.

By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
Gov. Bill Ritter gave his fourth and final State of the State address Thursday, pointing to difficult negotiations ahead in balancing the state’s more than $1 billion budget shortfall.
In a packed House chamber, with at least two dozen of his family members watching from the gallery, Ritter also spoke of raising the state’s renewable energy standard to 30 percent by 2020, eliminating the Colorado Student Assessment Program, reforming aspects of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and reining in abuses with the burgeoning medical marijuana industry, to name a few main points of his address.
He called for lawmakers to set aside partisanship and come together to achieve progress.
“We have a higher responsibility to join together, to overcome our challenges, to turn to what Abraham Lincoln called the “better angels of our nature,” said Ritter.
His address came as anything but sounding like the words of a lame duck politician. Despite Ritter’s announcement last week that he would not seek re-election, the governor gave a passionate and sincere address before the state’s General Assembly. In fact, the governor appeared emboldened by his decision, arguing that it will allow him to make tough, unpopular, politically unwise choices.
He suggested that closing the state’s shortfall, estimated at at least $1.2 billion, will be the hardest work for lawmakers.
“We’re going to have to do things we don’t want to do,” said Ritter. “We’re going to have to take a balanced approach to keeping the budget balanced, without damaging our ability to recover and grow jobs.”
He added that part of the solution should come from examining whether TABOR is in need of reform. Ritter believes spending constraints and requirements have left lawmakers with their hands tied when it comes to balancing the budget in a down economy.
“We need to have an honest conversation with the public about what kind of services they want their government to provide, and how much it will cost to provide those services to 5 million people today and to nearly 10 million by 2050,” said the governor.
Ritter is working on a ballot initiative for 2011 that would eliminate parts of TABOR, while also reforming the 2000 voter-approved Amendment 23, which requires that education spending rise every year by 1 percent.
Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, has introduced a resolution that asks voters for permission to study repealing TABOR through a citizen fiscal policy constitutional commission. The citizen commission would be able to submit ballot measures concerning TABOR laws.
Ritter Thursday also took a jab at anti-tax crusaders who have introduced three anti-tax ballot proposals that Ritter called “the most backward-thinking ballot measures this state has ever seen.”
The proposals would limit or eliminate taxes in just about every area. Proponents have declined repeatedly to speak in detail with the Denver Daily News about the proposals. Rumors have circulated that former Rep. Douglas Bruce, R-Colorado Springs, the author of TABOR, is behind the measures.
“The cynical game the proponents are playing with our future would quite literally destroy the safety net and wipe out any hope of creating a better future for our children,” Ritter said of the three proposals.
Immediate reaction from Republicans to the governor’s speech was fairly subdued, perhaps taking up the governor’s call for bipartisanship.
House Minority Leader Mike May, of Colorado Springs, did point out, however, that he sees the difference between Democrats and Republicans as being about taxing and spending.
“Let’s live within our means this year, and not push it down to the next Legislature and the taxpayers,” May told reporters following the governor’s speech. “That’s a big difference between us, and we’ll have that argument again this year, I’m sure.”
Meanwhile, House Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, acknowledged that the budget would be the most difficult for lawmakers.
“We don’t have the luxury of having sacred cows,” he said following Ritter’s remarks. “Everything has to be on the table: tax credits, tax exemptions, ending programs and agencies that some of us really hold near and dear.”

Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters

By Don Knox, STATE BILL COLORADO
As we wait for today’s announcement, here’s a list of perceived winners and losers from Gov. Bill Ritter’s decision not to pursue a second term.
Have a different opinion? Leave a comment.

WINNERS

SCOTT MCINNIS: Is now the time to start running a shadow government?

JOHN HICKENLOOPER: If he’s in it, he could win it. But he can’t waffle.

PRISONERS: Get your clemency appeals in.

DEMOCRATS DISSATISIFED WITH RITTER: Happy New Year!

COLORADO’S BUREAUCRACY: Unplanned executive changes are the reason it endures.

BRANDON SHAFFER: The Senate president keeps his job beyond January 2011. That says a lot.

CARY KENNEDY: If she survives November’s election.

BERNIE BUESCHER: Sometimes you win by losing.

TISHA CONOLY SCHULLER: It’s a game-changer for the Colorado Oil & Gas Association.

COLORADOPOLS.COM: The left’s tongues wag here.

LOSERS

RITTER’S CABINET: The band is breaking up.

PROSPECTIVE PANEL APPOINTEES: Ritter’s penchant for creating and appointing blue-ribbon commissions won’t be continued.

UNIONS: Ritter gave them a lot (though not nearly as much as the rank-and-file sought).

RITTER’S LEGACY: This answer would be different had the New Energy Economy coincided with an economic boom.

COLORADO SUPREME COURT: Ritter figured to provide it protective cover for a contentious retention election in the fall.

STEPHANIE VILLAFUERTE: She’ll be forced to confront her next move now, instead of five years from now.

POLITICAL DONORS: More money out the door — and more uncertainty.

John Hickenlooper

By Don Knox, STATE BILL COLORADO
Bill Ritter’s shocking withdrawal from the governor’s race gives John Hickenlooper his best opportunity for statewide elective office.
But the popular Denver mayor could have to challenge others in his own party — Ed Perlmutter or Ken Salazar, among them — for a chance to gain the governor’s mansion in a head-on race with former congressman Scott McInnis.
No matter the reason for Ritter’s withdrawal, his exit naturally boosts McInnis’ bid to become governor in 2011. But the Democratic bench, built up through nearly a decade of aggressive candidate development and fundraising, is especially deep.
Indeed, it was the threat of a gubernatorial run by Hickenlooper in 2006 that created a rift between the mayor and the future governor. Hickenlooper lingered in the wings too long, threatening Ritter’s own viability. The two politicos patched things up, but not enough for Ritter to choose Hickenlooper as Salazar’s replacement in the U.S. Senate.
As recently as last year, Hickenlooper told The Denver Post that he was still being approached by political leaders to run for governor as an independent, against the incumbent Ritter. But he declined, saying, “I would not be unraveling the fabric of collaboration.”
While viewed by some Dems as a stronger candidate than Ritter, Hickenlooper is not without political weak spots.
“Hickenlooper and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are examples of politicians who have won elections and reelections, but would have difficulty winning their respective party nominations,” Denver pollster Floyd Ciruli blogged last year as rumors arose regarding a possible independent bid by Hickenlooper for the governor’s job. “Although Hickenlooper is a social liberal, he is insufficiently supportive of organized labor’s agenda, somewhat fiscally conservative and not highly identified with minority patronage and politics.”

Statewide trash troubles loom. The Denver area remains out of compliance with federal ozone air- pollution standards. Water-supply systems require $4 billion worth of attention. These are among the challenges faced by new Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Director Martha Rudolph, who began running that 1,250-employee agency last week, The Denver Post reports.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter does not have a staff photographer – but he has billed taxpayers more than $200,000 to hire outside contractors and pay for photographs, videos and TV ads promoting his accomplishments since June 2008, including videos of him receiving a “Father of the Year” award and a press conference naming his friend, Michael Bennet, to a U.S. Senate seat. According to receipts and contracts obtained by The Associated Press under the Colorado Open Records Act, taxpayers paid that amount for photos of the Democratic governor signing bills and attending a lavish production for the state film commission.

Colorado’s unemployment trust fund will run out of money in the next few weeks, forcing the state to borrow from the federal government. It will not affect laid-off workers drawing unemployment benefits, but many businesses can expect higher unemployment taxes until the fund is back in the black, The Durango Herald reports.