BIG BUDGET SHORTFALL

Denver Daily News staff report

Monday, March 23, 2009

BIG BUDGET SHORTFALL: The Colorado Legislative Council on Friday reported that the state will be $208 million below the amount budgeted in the fiscal year 2008-09, meaning the General Assembly will have to look for $208 million in cuts for the current budget, which ends this July. The council also projects that general fund revenue shortfall over two years (FY 08-10) will be $1.4 billion, an increase from the $1 billion that was projected in December. The Legislative Council estimates a shortfall of $922 million in general fund revenue in FY 2009-10. This will necessitate budget cuts that the Senate will begin during the budget discussions March 30. The Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting said that they anticipate the economy to turn positive near the end of 2009 and the recovery will be more gradual than previously thought.

COFFMAN BACKS IRAQ PLAN: U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., announced on Friday his support for President Barack Obama’s new withdrawal plan from Iraq. The plan gives the president flexibility in withdrawing troops while ensuring security forces could be kept in place to aid Iraq’s fragile but developing democracy. “The President’s plan is a sound reversal of his campaign pledge of expeditiously removing all U.S. troops under a fixed time schedule,” Coffman said. “The plan has a flexible time schedule that will leave in place up to 50,000 U.S. troops who will play a vital role in consolidating and extending the remarkable progress our military has made since 2007.” Coffman later added: “No doubt, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I’ll be monitoring the situation to make sure that U.S. troop withdrawals correspond to successes on the ground in Iraq.”

UDALL, BENNET ANNOUNCE HOSPITAL FUNDING: U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, both Colorado Democrats, announced on Friday that the state will receive an additional $2,265,318 in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide additional help to hospitals that serve a significantly disproportionate number of uninsured and low-income patients, or Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH). This new funding will be administered by the Colorado Indigent Care Program (CICP) and will be distributed to eligible hospitals in accordance with current state formulas.

HEALTH CARE PUSH: Stressing the potential for jobs and economic growth, a coalition of local business, labor, government, academic and health care groups introduced on Friday “We Work for Health of Colorado” — a network of more than two dozen partners dedicated to protecting and fostering medical innovation in the U.S. and specifically in Colorado. We Work for Health, which includes a prominent list of statewide co-chairs and 28 partner organizations, was unveiled at a major conference at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, featuring remarks by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. “I’m very pleased to be part of the launch of We Work for Health in Colorado,” said Sen. Bennet. “We need to harness the power of the private sector and smart public policy to create good-paying jobs in future-oriented industries like biotech and bioscience. These are the industries that will fuel economic growth and American competitiveness in the 21st century, and Colorado is uniquely situated to lead the charge. With We Work for Health as a committed partner, I’m confident we can turn possibility into reality and emerge from this crisis stronger and more prosperous than before.”

JEFFCO SCHOOLS CIO ARRESTED: Don Jenkins, the chief information officer for Jeffco Public Schools, was arrested by Aurora Police for investigation of Internet luring of a child and attempted sexual assault on a child. The arrest stems from an undercover Internet sting operation conducted by the Aurora Police Department. Jenkins has been an employee of Jeffco Schools since 1999 and became chief information officer in 2007. He is on administrative leave.

DUI ARRESTS: Colorado law enforcement agencies report making 661 DUI arrests during the recent five-day St. Patrick’s DUI crackdown that began at 6 p.m. Friday, March 13th, and ended at 3 a.m. on Wednesday March 18th. The arrests broke a record for a St Patrick’s DUI enforcement period. The previous high was 626 in 2004. Last year, 520 people were arrested for DUI over the holiday period. To view all DUI arrests by agency visit www.dot.state.co.us/trafficsafety/ and click on DUI Enforcement. Choose St. Patrick’s Day 2009 for the enforcement period and click on View Report.

WILDFIRE MITIGATION BILL MOVES: A proposal providing greater assistance to those communities most threatened by wildfires cleared its final legislative hurdle in the Senate on Friday and is now headed to the House for consideration. Senate Bill 18 , co-sponsored by Littleton Republican and GOP Senate Caucus Chair Mike Kopp, directs the Colorado State Forest Service to create a wildfire mitigation grant fund for high-risk communities. The program would make grants available to state and local governments, fire-protection districts and HOAs.

RITTER ANNOUNCES TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS: Gov. Bill Ritter has certified a third round of transportation projects to be funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, many of them in the Fort Collins and Greeley areas. Gov. Ritter has now approved $415 million of recovery funding for more than 80 transportation and transit projects around the state. For more information, visit www.colorado.gov/recovery.

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