Study: Colorado government faces fiscal crisis - Baltimore Business Journal:

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The report from the Center for Colorado’s Economicv Future at DU is titledf “Colorado’s State Budget Tsunami.” It is to be formallu released Tuesday. “There is simply not enougu money to pay for the government we have thereport says. “Barring a quick and dramatif turnaround ofthe economy, it appearas that the current fiscal system cannot be sustained.” In announcing the report’s findings, DU notee that “anticipated fiscal demands for K-12 education, prisons and Medicai will swamp today’s revenue-generating tax and fee in Colorado.
The report recommends a reviee of the statebudget “It is once agaih time to take a critical look at where we are and star t the process of a much-needed overhaul,” it Colorado lawmakers this year made steepl cuts in state programes and drew on federal stimulus funds to balance the budget, and then that the statew faces a $384 million revenue shortfalk for next year. • “The budgetary tsunami that washed over Colorado government last fall and winter was likeluy just the first More tidal wavesin [fisca l year] 2010-11 threaten to keep the genera fund underwater and lawmakers struggling to find new • “The largest departments of state governmenr are growing more than twice as fast as tax dollarzs are coming in, leaving a lot less monegy available for other needs.
” “Education, prisons and health care consumed aboutt 54 cents of every general fund dollar a decadre ago. They now eat up nearly 76 cents of everh generalfund dollar, and that figurew will jump to 91 centsz in five years if the average growth rate Eventually, at this rate, there would be no moneyt for other programs.” • “There is little question the financia l difficulties faced by Colorado’s state government during this decade’d two recessions will continue into the future.
The proble m is mathematical – there is simply not enoughn money to pay for the government we have created and the services many of us have come to Center director CharlesBrown co-authored the reporgt with Jeffrey Roberts. The full report is to be released Tuesdayu at a10 a.m. MDT news conference, and Brown is slatedd to testify on its findings before thestater legislature’s Fiscal Stabilization Commission on Wednesday.
The Center for Colorado’s Economic Future describe s itselfas “an nonpartisan organization that conducts research on matters relates to Colorado’s fiscal trends affecting the state’s economy and proposed legislation relating to taxation and public spending.”