 
 |
| |
| Budget Watch - April 2006 |
| Date Published: 4/3/2006 |
| |
 Budget Watch
The voice of opportunity for Colorado
Bell Policy Center
1801 Broadway, Suite 280
Denver, Colo. 80202
(303) 297-0456 in metro Denver
(866) 283-8051 toll-free in Colorado
(303) 297-0460 fax
www.thebell.org
April 4, 2006 • Vol. 4, No. 4
| In this issue:
• A User's Guide to the State Budget Process
• Accountability Tour makes nine stops, PODCAST set for April 5
|
Budget Watchis
the Bell Policy Center’s monthly e-newsletter dedicated to tracking
policy and political developments related to Colorado’s budget and
spending process. To view or download a printer-friendly version, go to
www.thebell.org/tabor
Letters to the editor are welcome. Send them to Heather McGregor at mcgregor@thebell.org.
Feel free to forward this newsletter to a friend. To
subscribe or unsubscribe, contact Rick Sullivan at (303) 297-0456 in
metro Denver, (866) 283-8051 toll-free in Colorado, or via e-mail at sullivan@thebell.org.
Please consider supporting the Bell with a financial contribution
today. Your gift will help us in our efforts to ensure that Colorado is
a state of opportunity for all. Please visit our donation page. Thank you for your support!
A User's Guide to the State Budget Process
Part Two
By Rich Jones
jones@thebell.org
Director of Policy and Research
Action on the state budget is occurring fast and furious, and a lot has
happened since Bell published Part One of the User's Guide in the March edition of Budget Watch.
In
this issue, we update budget actions, show how the Joint Budget
Committee proposes to spend the Ref. C funds and outline the next steps
in the budget process.
Most of the Legislature’s work on the budget is
complete. People who want to weigh in with opinions and recommendations
must do so in the next few days.
Recent Budget Actions
New revenue estimates released
The Legislative Council staff and the governor’s Office of State
Planning and Budgeting issued their third quarterly forecasts in the
fiscal year for state revenues on March 20.
Both groups project more general fund revenues for the current fiscal
year (2005-06) and next (2006-07) than in the December estimates. They
also increased estimates of revenues the state will retain over the
next five years under Ref C.
In a departure from the December forecast, the new OSBP forecast for
2006-07 shows the state now has sufficient revenue to increase
operating spending by the 6 percent limit (under Arveschoug-Bird), fill
the 4 percent reserve fund and transfer $140 million to the Highway
Users Tax Fund.
New Legislative Council and OSPB revenue reports
Note: All figures are in millions of dollars.
The new forecasts are available online.
Legislative Council
http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/lcsstaff/lcs/focus/2006/06Forecast0320.pdf
OSPB
http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/govnr_dir/ospb/economics/cep/2006/cep2006-03.pdf
House votes on Long Bill
Joint Budget Committee members Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, and Rep. Tom
Plant, D-Boulder, introduced HB 06-1385, the Appropriations Bill,
commonly called the Long Bill, in the House on March 24.
The House
passed the spending measure on March 30.
The bill appropriates $6,670.8 million in general funds subject to the
state’s 6 percent spending limit, and transfers another $110.5 million
to the capital construction fund.
The capital spending includes $80.5
million for capital projects, $15 million for a mental health forensics
lab in Pueblo and $15 million for transportation projects.
The JBC produces two documents that explain the appropriations. The Long Bill Narrative:
-
Presents an overview of the budget.
-
Explains major changes between fiscal years 2005-06 and 2006-07.
-
Shows the amounts appropriated for each department.
-
Explains how the budget changes affect the functions of the programs receiving appropriations.
The 291-page narrative is divided by departments, and a table of
contents on page 4 helps readers move quickly to the agencies they are
interested in.
http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/jbc/2006LBNarr.pdf
A separate document contains the Long Bill itself, which is all the
line item appropriations for every state agency. Online, the Long Bill
starts from a web page with a long list of hot links to each
department’s budget.
http://www.leg.state.co.us/CLICS2006A/csl.nsf/lbcontainer/HB06-1385?OpenDocument
The Long Bill also includes a list of all capital projects.
Both documents provide a wealth of information to understand and monitor the budget process.
Supplemental Appropriations
The Legislature has passed and sent to the governor a series of
supplemental appropriations bills that put additional funding into
programs for the current fiscal year 2005-06.
Through this process, the
Legislature began allocating Ref. C funds and restoring some of the
cuts made during the recession.
The 2006-07 Long Bill Narrative shows the supplemental appropriations
for 2005-06 by department. A list of proposed supplemental
appropriations prepared by the JBC on March 14 shows where some of the
Ref C funds were allocated.
http://www.thebell.org/pdf/RefC-JBC05-06Supplemental.pdf
The JBC staff also produced two summaries that
detail the supplemental appropriations for each agency and a short
narrative.
Summary of Additional FY 2005-06 Supplementals Recommendations, March 10, 2006
http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/jbc/Round2SuppNarr.pdf
Supplemental Narrative, Feb. 2, 2006
http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/jbc/suppnarr.pdf
Where the Referendum C funds are going
The Long Bill Narrative contains a summary chart that shows how the
Legislature plans to spend Ref. C funds in fiscal years 2005-06 and
2006-07.
Each agency reports its Ref. C spending under the General
Funds Exempt heading. Ref. C appropriations for fiscal year 2006-07 are
also shown under this heading in the Long Bill.
Summary of General Fund Exempt spending, in millions of dollars
In many cases, allocating the Ref C funds to large line items has freed
up other general fund money that can be shifted to other lines of
spending, restoring some recession-driven cuts.
Through this process, the Legislature is fully funding the Colorado
Preschool Program to eliminate a statewide waiting list of about 6,000
kids, restoring some of cuts in mental health services for low-income
Coloradans, and restoring some of cuts to programs for developmentally
disabled adults.
The Legislature is also raising the College Opportunity Fund stipend
for college students from $2,400 to $2,580, increasing need-based aid
for higher education by about $7.2 million for 2006-07 to a new total
of nearly $45 million, restoring funding for local public health
departments, and making a $20 million appropriation for school repairs
as part of the Giardino lawsuit settlement.
Next steps in the budget process
The Long Bill is now in the Senate, where it is being considered by
each of the party caucuses.
As in the House, senators may offer
amendments in the party caucuses. If the ideas receive majority support
within the caucuses, the amendments will be introduced on the Senate
floor.
The party caucuses started Monday and are expected to wrap up today. Each
party’s caucus is open and anyone can listen to the debate through the
Legislature’s online audio system.
http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics2006a/cslFrontPages.nsf/Audio?OpenForm
The Republicans will be meeting in Room 354; the Democrats will be in Room 356.
The process will move fairly quickly from here on out. According to
legislative rules, the Senate must pass the Long Bill by Friday, April
7.
If the Senate amends the Long Bill, it will return to the House for
considerations of the Senate amendments.
If the House rejects some or
all of the amendments, the Long Bill will go back to the JBC, which
will serve as the conference committee to resolve the differences.
The Legislature must pass the conference committee report on the Long
Bill by Friday, April 14.
From there, the bill goes to the governor,
who can sign it, veto it entirely or veto specific line items.
The Legislature can override the governor’s vetoes with a two-thirds
majority. The override majority is a high hurdle, so the governor’s
vetoes usually stand.
Accountability Tour makes nine stops, PODCAST set for April 5
By Laurie Hirschfeld Zeller
zeller@thebell.org
Senior Political Advisor
The Referendum C Accountability Tour reached nine communities in
February, March and April and will put on a statewide virtual brown bag
meeting with a live podcast on Wednesday, April 5.
The Accountability Tour represents a bipartisan effort between the Bell
Policy Center, legislators, local officials and regional
representatives of organizations of the Vote Yes on C and D coalition.
The meetings gave Bell and the legislators a forum to present
information on the state budget process and hear from constituents on
spending priorities.
Greeley City Councilwoman Pam Shattuck explained the tour best when she
said the meetings offered a chance for citizens to renew their
confidence in the democratic process and for legislators to earn that
confidence.
The tour made stops in Denver, Longmont, Boulder, El Paso, Aurora,
Loveland, Greeley, Golden and Pueblo, and benefited from press coverage
in most of these communities. For details, visit the Referendum C Roundup page on the Bell's web site.
http://www.thebell.org/RefC-roundup.html
Meanwhile, the tour’s podcast event makes history by being the first
time for legislators to host a virtual town meeting over the Internet.
ProgressNow and Bell have been promoting the event and inviting people
to submit comments and questions online in advance and during the
podcast.
Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, and Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, and
Bell President Wade Buchanan are the featured speakers.
The podcast will be aired live on the ProgressNow web site from 12:30
to 1 p.m. on Wednesday. An MP3 audio file of the 30-minute discussion
will remain posted on the ProgressNow and Bell web sites for listening
online or download to an MP3 player.
http://progressnow.org/digest/refc0406/index.htm
The Bell is grateful to many civic leaders who have participated in these meetings, including but not limited to:
Joe Blake, president, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
Susan Graf, president, Boulder Chamber of Commerce
Jared Polis, vice chair, State Board of Education
Mike Kazmierski, president, Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp.
Will Temby, president, Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce
Dr. Sharon Thomas, superintendent, El Paso County School District 11
Pam Shockley-Zalabak, chancellor, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Greg Goode, vice president for student activities, Community College of Aurora
Kathay Rennels, Larimer County commissioner
Mary Lu Walton, executive director, Envision
Bob Stovall, chairman of the board, Action 22
Rod Slyhoff, president, Pueblo Chamber of Commerce
We are indebted to many legislators who have been a part of our
programs. These Accountability Tour meetings take place on weekday
evenings and weekend mornings, and legislators participated after
finishing long days of work for the legislative session. Join us in
thanking them for their service:
Longmont: Sens. Paul Weissmann and Brandon Shaffer
Boulder: Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, House Majority Leader Alice
Madden, Sen. Shaffer and Rep. Tom Plant, Joint Budget Committee
chairman
Colorado Springs: Reps. Tom Massey and Michael Merrifield
Aurora: Sen. Suzanne Williams, Reps. Morgan Carroll, Michael Garcia, Mary Hodge, Debbie Stafford and Nancy Todd
Loveland: Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff, Sens.
Bob Bacon and Steve Johnson, Reps. Bob McCluskey and Angie
Paccione
Evans: Speaker Romanoff, Sens.
Dave Owen and Johnson, Reps. Jim Riesberg and
Paccione
Golden: Senate President Fitz-Gerald, Sens.
Betty Boyd, Moe Keller and Sue Windels, Speaker Pro Tem Cheri Jahn,
Reps. Gwyn Green and Debbie Benefield
Pueblo: Sen. Abel Tapia, Reps. Buffie McFadyen and Massey
Statewide Podcast: Sen. Ken Gordon, Rep. Massey
Meetings are being planned for Denver, Grand Junction. |
|
| |
|
|
Home
| About Us | Publications
| Support Us | Contact
Us |
Gateways to Opportunity | Educational
Opportunity | Economic Opportunity
TABOR & the Fiscal Project | Policy
Watch | Media Center | Links
|
