Denver Post Op-Ed by Bell Policy Center President Chris deGruy Kennedy

Guest Commentary

It was with profound dismay that we read the recent Denver Post editorial characterizing the state budget balancing process as an exercise in finding money “one rounding error at a time.” All legislators need to do is “trim some fat” and engage in some “belt-tightening,” it said. Have you been to meetings of the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee?

Have you heard a mother testify that she had to give CPR to her profoundly disabled child because she couldn’t afford to hire a night nurse at the low rates that state-run Medicaid would pay? Have you heard the stories of needy older adults who are denied Meals on Wheels because the state can’t afford more funding for the Area Agencies on Aging? Have you listened to people who counsel and support abused children speak to how state funding is needed desperately to make up federal funding decreases?

We have. And you should. Then perhaps people like the Denver Post’s editorial board wouldn’t make such broad and glib assertions about the state budget.

The facts are that Colorado’s state budget has barely grown at all in real terms. And by that, we mean that when you account for population growth and inflation, there has hardly been an uptick in the state’s general fund. And don’t take our word for it. You can see the numbers for yourself.

With numbers generated by the nonpartisan Legislative Council staffers, we show that Colorado is barely keeping up, and that doesn’t even consider how inadequately the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures growth in costs where the government is concerned.

If we were comparing growth in the state’s general fund to all costs, including growth in costs not adequately captured in the CPI, such as rising prices for construction materials and health care for state employees, we’d see the truth: TABOR has been constricting funds available for education, health care, transportation and other core state services for 32 years.

That’s why there have been so many attempts to find other revenue, whether it’s from marijuana and nicotine taxes, or creating new enterprises.

Every year, lawmakers labor to prioritize which services will receive funding when there’s never enough to meet every important need, and they strive to modernize or repeal programs that are not delivering. This year will be no different, but to think that streamlining alone will close a $700 million budget gap reflects a failure to engage with the very real problems impacting people across our state.

In reality, lawmakers will have to ask themselves whether they want to cut air quality enforcement programs or efforts to keep prescription drugs affordable? Should they tell schools there’s no money for school safety or keep rural schools at four-day weeks? Do they defund efforts to fight the fentanyl crisis or cut off mental health supports for teenagers?

This is your “fat.”

These budget cuts hurt real people, and they distract from the broader question of budget adequacy. It was unbelievable to us that an editorial that brushed off $700 million in cuts as couch cushion change ignored — didn’t even acknowledge — two reports released just days prior that showed Colorado underfunds K-12 education by $3.5 to $4.1 billion. That’s billion with a B.

Colorado legislators have worked hard to eliminate the so-called budget stabilization factor from the state budget process. The BS factor was an accounting maneuver that allowed the state to not meet constitutionally required K-12 funding. And thank goodness it’s gone. But that leaves us with funding at 1989 levels, when adjusted for inflation. And it doesn’t take into account the expansion in services we expect from schools, including more advanced courses, school safety and mental health supports. And although lawmakers took a big step toward better K-12 funding with the 2024 school finance act, we’re still in a deep hole, as the two reports showed.

Why aren’t we talking about adequacy? Why aren’t we talking about what the state’s residents need and how Colorado, a prosperous and beautiful state, can fill those needs?

The real problem is that the wealthiest Coloradans and the largest corporations are not paying their fair share of taxes to support our growing state. And they are fighting hard to keep it that way.

Every year as our population grows, the problem grows more severe because growth in Colorado simply does not pay its own way. That’s what the conversation should be about — not about which group of Coloradans we should kick to the curb in the name of “belt-tightening.”

Chris deGruy Kennedy is president and CEO of the Bell Policy Center, and former speaker pro tem of the Colorado House of Representatives.