Colorado Governor Bill Ritter
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DENVER -
Gov. Bill Ritter, facing a growing budget shortfall and a difficult re-election bid next year, offered a stark new plan to cut state spending across the board to fill the projected $384 million hole in next year's budget.
Ritter announced Thursday that he has emailed all department heads and asked them to come up with proposals to cut 10-percent from their department budgets. That may mean that whole programs get cut; and Ritter also made it clear that more furloughs -- state workers are already facing four -- as well as layoffs could be necessary in order to balance state budgets amidst declining tax revenues.
"We've established a process and a timeline to close the $384 million shortfall," said Ritter, who is giving department heads about a month to submit their proposals. "We'll go through each of their submittals line-by-line and determine how best to close this $384 million gap.
"This process continues a culture of cost-cutting that's been going on for months," said Ritter, alluding to hiring freezes and other actions already taken to cut back on unnecessary spending. "On Monday, I directed my cabinet to rein in and hold the line on all non-essential expenses. Everything from personnel to travel and equipment to supplies.
"I will assure the people of Colorado, that we have both a balanced budget and a vision for building the Colorado that our children and our grandchildren deserve," Ritter said. Since the latest budget forecast was released Monday showing the state in increasingly dire fiscal shape, Ritter has been meeting with staff and key lawmakers to address the growing budget shortfall.
He's also been taking a lot of heat from Republicans criticizing Ritter's initial plan to use existing emergency funds and cash-transfers to address the budget deficits. After Thursday's press conference at the Capitol, Republicans softened their critiques. A little.
"I think the Governor, somehow, saw the light," said state Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, who called Ritter's new plan "a good first step" after "three years of kicking the can down the road and putting off the state's financial problems.
"Just this year, we increased state employees by 250 employees," said Harvey. "We increased the state budget by four percent from last year to this year. That's just irresponsible. It's about time that Ritter and the Democratic leadership look at our budget realistically and finally realize that we have to make some cuts across the board."
Facing a tough reelection bid next year, Ritter knows that his political success will likely hinge on Colorado's economic recovery -- and says his administration's investments in new energy businesses have Colorado better positioned than most states to emerge from the recession in decent shape.
On Monday, Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, who is expected to announce his candidacy as a Republican challenger for Ritter's job, speculated that Ritter was "putting off making tough decisions" on the budget for political reasons.
Reacting Thursday to Ritter's frank talk about cuts, Harvey said he thought the governor's new plan wasn't purely politically motivated, but likely resulting from the influence of newly-appointed Chief Financial Officer Don Elliman, whose experience comes from the private sector.
"We're now at a crisis situation. And the Governor brought in a new CFO and I think they probably had a long conversation and said, 'Tthis is what the reality is'," Harvey said.
"And, wherever it comes from, you have to compliment the governor for taking this stand.
"He's showing the leadership we've been hoping he would," Harvey said.
Ritter announced Thursday that he has emailed all department heads and asked them to come up with proposals to cut 10-percent from their department budgets. That may mean that whole programs get cut; and Ritter also made it clear that more furloughs -- state workers are already facing four -- as well as layoffs could be necessary in order to balance state budgets amidst declining tax revenues.
"We've established a process and a timeline to close the $384 million shortfall," said Ritter, who is giving department heads about a month to submit their proposals. "We'll go through each of their submittals line-by-line and determine how best to close this $384 million gap.
"This process continues a culture of cost-cutting that's been going on for months," said Ritter, alluding to hiring freezes and other actions already taken to cut back on unnecessary spending. "On Monday, I directed my cabinet to rein in and hold the line on all non-essential expenses. Everything from personnel to travel and equipment to supplies.
"I will assure the people of Colorado, that we have both a balanced budget and a vision for building the Colorado that our children and our grandchildren deserve," Ritter said. Since the latest budget forecast was released Monday showing the state in increasingly dire fiscal shape, Ritter has been meeting with staff and key lawmakers to address the growing budget shortfall.
He's also been taking a lot of heat from Republicans criticizing Ritter's initial plan to use existing emergency funds and cash-transfers to address the budget deficits. After Thursday's press conference at the Capitol, Republicans softened their critiques. A little.
"I think the Governor, somehow, saw the light," said state Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, who called Ritter's new plan "a good first step" after "three years of kicking the can down the road and putting off the state's financial problems.
"Just this year, we increased state employees by 250 employees," said Harvey. "We increased the state budget by four percent from last year to this year. That's just irresponsible. It's about time that Ritter and the Democratic leadership look at our budget realistically and finally realize that we have to make some cuts across the board."
Facing a tough reelection bid next year, Ritter knows that his political success will likely hinge on Colorado's economic recovery -- and says his administration's investments in new energy businesses have Colorado better positioned than most states to emerge from the recession in decent shape.
On Monday, Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, who is expected to announce his candidacy as a Republican challenger for Ritter's job, speculated that Ritter was "putting off making tough decisions" on the budget for political reasons.
Reacting Thursday to Ritter's frank talk about cuts, Harvey said he thought the governor's new plan wasn't purely politically motivated, but likely resulting from the influence of newly-appointed Chief Financial Officer Don Elliman, whose experience comes from the private sector.
"We're now at a crisis situation. And the Governor brought in a new CFO and I think they probably had a long conversation and said, 'Tthis is what the reality is'," Harvey said.
"And, wherever it comes from, you have to compliment the governor for taking this stand.
"He's showing the leadership we've been hoping he would," Harvey said.
