Denver, CO – We’ve written extensively about the liberal agenda of our Boulder Governor and the extreme-far-left legislature. In our articles, we have touched upon how much this will cost. Well, kudos to The Colorado Sun – they wrote an article on how much this may cost as well.
Here is the quick summary: it’s going to cost A LOT more than estimated.
Let’s start with full-day kindergarten. Now, many of us that grew up in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s, got a quality education without full-day kindergarten.
Studies by teacher’s union-backed groups say full-day kindergarten is essential. The rest of the scholarship out there say it has little impact.
Full-day kindergarten is often viewed as a boondoggle to throw more bad money at public education. Usually, the teacher’s union is the largest beneficiary. Traditionally this concept has been shunned by all but one Republican because of that reason and its price tag. It was strange that Republicans were on board with it this time. With the $184 million per year cost, this is pretty irresponsible. Especially considering the lowest price tag for this same bill in past legislative sessions ranged from $225 million to close to $1 billion. So it’s not surprising that this one is breaking the bank.
“There were a lot of bills passed last (session) that have continued spending … and some of those were very large,” said Rep. Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo. “I don’t think we completely all truly understand what we have obligated ourselves to.”
The incoming chairwoman of the Joint Budget Committee issued the extraordinary warning about the forthcoming spending constraints Friday, two months before lawmakers will meet to craft the spending plan for the next fiscal year.
John Frank, The Colorado Sun, September 26, 2019
Side note: the Joint Budget Committee is often referred to as the JBC. The JBC is composed of six legislators who write the budget for Colorado state government. Their proposed budget is rarely changed by more than 1/10 of a percent by the entire legislature. This is the most powerful committee. The JBC has been controlled by the Democrats for almost a decade now.
The quote from Esgar (D-Pueblo), who is going to be CHAIR of the JBC, is telling. She claims they didn’t understand, but let’s not forget that this big-spending year also included a bill to take the spending caps off of state government guaranteed to citizens by the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR).
In our opinion, here at the Colorado Citizens Press, this excessive spending is part of the argument for removing the spending caps. We don’t believe Democrats for a second that they didn’t know what things were going to cost.
Esgar is just part of this problem, but more importantly, as Chair of the JBC, she will be a bigger part of the problem.
As we read more into this article, the author offers this:
The September revenue forecast released Friday by legislative economists shows lawmakers could have $833 million more to spend in the 2020-21 fiscal year but that figure doesn’t include required spending increases in law or inflation
. John Frank, The Colorado Sun, September 26, 2019
The more realistic scenarios: If the current $30.5 billion budget grew by only inflation plus population, lawmakers would have $421 million to spend. But this amount would need to cover the increasing costs of existing priorities before adding new programs. If the budget grew by the historical 6% rate, the additional money for next year’s spending plan is reduced to a mere $56.6 million.
So, if the Democrats would have planned for the historical increase, they would not have spent all of this money. Even with the TABOR spending caps, they will have $421 million more to spend. This number is historically high! But for these irresponsible Democrats, it’s still not enough – they want the full $833 million that would be available if it weren’t for TABOR.
For those of you reading this article who think TABOR isn’t a good idea, the state budget in 2013 was $21.3 billion. So even with TABOR, the budget has increased by about a third in six years. Has your income increased by a third in the past seven years? If it has, you are probably the exception, not the rule.
We think Democrats made two tactical errors as well. Two of the six JBC members are in competitive seats. Daneya Esgar is in an evolving district that is becoming more conservative. State Senator Rachel Zenzinger is also in a competitive seat. Having these two on the JBC especially, in charge of this excessive spending will hurt them in upcoming elections. But hey, we like to see unforced errors by the Democrats.
Stay tuned, and please share!
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Excess taxation. Thinking of living in a C class because our home taxes have doubled in a few short years. That is hundreds of dollars out the window every single month, a complete waste of money, directly into the governments special interest coffers. Don’t they get enough from their corporate donors? That’s who they represent and that is who should be paying them. Where did the government which respected the people go? I’m not taking anyone who wears rainbow clothing seriously. Not now, not ever. Full day K is awesome, my daughter is in it right now. Those teachers are getting 80k a year, I should have gotten into child hood education instead of trades. If we had a choice, we’d lift our children right out of public school tomorrow and put them in private Christian. If only the school choice voucher did not discriminate against Christian parents…
It’s rare that you hear a politician say “I don’t think we completely all truly understand what we have obligated ourselves to.” When you do hear it coming from the chairperson of the JBC, it is truly frightening. It is her/their (the JBC) job to understand their responsibilities and to carry them out in the best interests of the people they are “supposed to be serving”. Alas, that rarely seems to be the case. It often appears the originate their ideas and goals by throwing darts, often blindfolded, at a list of desires provided by organizations with a dog in the fight. Results,usually not good for the taxpayer.