DENVER - University of Colorado President Bruce Benson is bracing for the worst, expecting that Gov. Bill Ritter's latest plan to re-balance the state budget will include more cuts in higher education spending, as well as other state programs.
The cuts were set to be announced Wednesday morning.
"The thing that I'm really worried about is that we are starting to have to cut some things that we shouldn't have to cut," Benson said. "Better advising, more class availability, these are just things you've got to have."
Benson, who oversees CU's four campuses and a combined student population of 56,000 students, expects that the state funding CU receives for the 2009-10 could end up being half of what it received the previous year.
"We fund most of our operating costs with state funding and student tuition," Benson said.
"Nobody wants to raise tuition right now. But we started at $209 [million from the state] and we're already down to $129 [million]. After tomorrow's cuts, just based on the percentages, I wouldn't be surprised if that number is down to $100 or $105 [million]."
Like Benson, most lawmakers, who've yet to see Ritter's proposal, expect higher education will be hit hard again.
Tuesday, Ritter's office announced one piece of the overall plan: an additional four furlough days for 15,500 state employees, which will save the state $27.2 million -- a drop in the bucket when it comes to filling a deficit that has risen, dating back to September 2008, over the $2 billion mark.
The state started the current budget year, which began in July, with a $320 million shortfall after an economic forecast in June showed revenue projections had fallen again. Ritter's office planned to fill the hole through budget cuts that included the early release of some prisoners, eliminating a 32-bed nursing unit in Grand Junction for the developmentally disabled, cutting 59 beds at a facility for the mentally ill in Fort Logan and the original four furlough days for most state workers.
But in September, as revenues fell again, the budget appeared to be short another $240 million, partly because of surging Medicaid enrollment. When Ritter's budget director Todd Saliman presents his rebalancing plan to the Joint Budget Committee Wednesday, it's likely to include $270 million in spending adjustments and cuts.
"There just may have to be layoffs, is the unfortunate reality," said Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, who is one of three Republicans vying to challenge Ritter's reelection next year. "Government has grown so expansively in the last few years -- with literally thousands of new jobs. If we're going to fund roads, schools, this may not be the end of it."
While Penry and most Republicans advocate cutting the size of government, Democrats, like JBC Chair, Sen. Moe Keller of Wheat Ridge, say that government's already been cut to the bone.
"I don't know if layoffs help a lot. If you lay off more prison guards, you have to close another prison," Keller said. "Where do you lay off employees where there's not a direct service to the public? We are furloughing those people and we may have to make cuts. But there are going to be consequences to those cuts and they're not going to be pleasant.
"In the end, the public has to answer the question: what do we want from government? And what are we willing to pay for it?"
Under the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, or "TABOR," Colorado voters must approve any tax increase. With that being rather unlikely, lawmakers may be left to find more creative ways of increasing revenue.
In this year's legislative session, that amounted to raising DMV fees in order to fund road and bridge repairs; come next January, when the legislature reconvenes, it may mean a push by the Democratic majority to close several existing tax exemptions and loopholes for economic development that could generate close to $1 billion for the state.
"These numbers are so big, so amorphous, it doesn't seem to connect to people's lives," said Carol Hedges, with the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, already advocating for abolishing those tax breaks.
"The truth of the matter is: you pay one way or another. You're either going to pay in higher fees for K-12 education, or higher college tuition, or not having health care services."
Saliman will submit the governor's budget for the 2010-11 budget the first week of November, and the shortfall could potentially be even larger.
The state has already filled a $1.8 billion budget hole since the recession began last year.
The cuts were set to be announced Wednesday morning.
"The thing that I'm really worried about is that we are starting to have to cut some things that we shouldn't have to cut," Benson said. "Better advising, more class availability, these are just things you've got to have."
Benson, who oversees CU's four campuses and a combined student population of 56,000 students, expects that the state funding CU receives for the 2009-10 could end up being half of what it received the previous year.
"We fund most of our operating costs with state funding and student tuition," Benson said.
"Nobody wants to raise tuition right now. But we started at $209 [million from the state] and we're already down to $129 [million]. After tomorrow's cuts, just based on the percentages, I wouldn't be surprised if that number is down to $100 or $105 [million]."
Like Benson, most lawmakers, who've yet to see Ritter's proposal, expect higher education will be hit hard again.
Tuesday, Ritter's office announced one piece of the overall plan: an additional four furlough days for 15,500 state employees, which will save the state $27.2 million -- a drop in the bucket when it comes to filling a deficit that has risen, dating back to September 2008, over the $2 billion mark.
The state started the current budget year, which began in July, with a $320 million shortfall after an economic forecast in June showed revenue projections had fallen again. Ritter's office planned to fill the hole through budget cuts that included the early release of some prisoners, eliminating a 32-bed nursing unit in Grand Junction for the developmentally disabled, cutting 59 beds at a facility for the mentally ill in Fort Logan and the original four furlough days for most state workers.
But in September, as revenues fell again, the budget appeared to be short another $240 million, partly because of surging Medicaid enrollment. When Ritter's budget director Todd Saliman presents his rebalancing plan to the Joint Budget Committee Wednesday, it's likely to include $270 million in spending adjustments and cuts.
"There just may have to be layoffs, is the unfortunate reality," said Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, who is one of three Republicans vying to challenge Ritter's reelection next year. "Government has grown so expansively in the last few years -- with literally thousands of new jobs. If we're going to fund roads, schools, this may not be the end of it."
While Penry and most Republicans advocate cutting the size of government, Democrats, like JBC Chair, Sen. Moe Keller of Wheat Ridge, say that government's already been cut to the bone.
"I don't know if layoffs help a lot. If you lay off more prison guards, you have to close another prison," Keller said. "Where do you lay off employees where there's not a direct service to the public? We are furloughing those people and we may have to make cuts. But there are going to be consequences to those cuts and they're not going to be pleasant.
"In the end, the public has to answer the question: what do we want from government? And what are we willing to pay for it?"
Under the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, or "TABOR," Colorado voters must approve any tax increase. With that being rather unlikely, lawmakers may be left to find more creative ways of increasing revenue.
In this year's legislative session, that amounted to raising DMV fees in order to fund road and bridge repairs; come next January, when the legislature reconvenes, it may mean a push by the Democratic majority to close several existing tax exemptions and loopholes for economic development that could generate close to $1 billion for the state.
"These numbers are so big, so amorphous, it doesn't seem to connect to people's lives," said Carol Hedges, with the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, already advocating for abolishing those tax breaks.
"The truth of the matter is: you pay one way or another. You're either going to pay in higher fees for K-12 education, or higher college tuition, or not having health care services."
Saliman will submit the governor's budget for the 2010-11 budget the first week of November, and the shortfall could potentially be even larger.
The state has already filled a $1.8 billion budget hole since the recession began last year.
