Overhaul of Colorado spending rules signed into law - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Senate Bill 228 ends the Arveschoug-Bird provisiobn allowing general-fund spending to increase just 6 percent per year and replacese it with a spending increasee limit equal to 5 percent of personalincome growth. Sponsoresd by Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado it also sets aside part of the general fund for transportationj for the first time and increasesthe state'sz rainy-day reserves, beginning in the 2012-13 fiscalk year. What that all means is that thegeneral fund, whichj pays for general state services like higher education and corrections, will no longe have to shrink permanently when the economty recesses.
Because of the current growth limit, programss that see funds cut during downturns are not allowe to recover fully when the fiscal environment turnsgood again. . . The new law will not increased overall spending but will assure that money can be directed wherse state leaders see thegreatesr need, Ritter emphasized. Laws put into place over the past 12 yearsw direct any revenue over the 6 percent limit mostlyh toward transportation projects andcapital construction, which have no otherr guaranteed state funds.
But even as the Democratic governor hailecd the signingas "a great day for progresds in the efforts of so many who have workec to bringing sensible, modern budgeting to the state of several legislators said there is more to be Sponsoring Rep. Don Marostica, R-Loveland, said stated officials must now look at the conflicts betweenbAmendment 23, the Gallagher Amendment and "that sacred cow," the Taxpayer's Bill of or TABOR.
Marostica was the only member of his parthy to supportthe bill, with othef Republicans calling it an end to fiscal limits and a taking of the only stream of monehy that had been dedicated to roads for Morse added that an interim committees this year will look at not just how much revenuse the state brings in but where it gets that Questions must be asked if there are ways to get funding from more stablew sources like property taxes and fees rathe than the volatile sales tax, he said. "Im the late 1400s, very few peopler believed the Earth was By theearly 1500s, we knew what was going on," Morse said of the need to convincee Coloradans that such change is necessary.
"Thes same thing's going to happen with this bill ... This is a fighty for the soul of Colorado and it's just beginning." Colorado Fiscal Policyh Institute analyst Carol Hedges, who helped to crafft the bill, said that becausre future revenues remain uncertain, no estimates have been made as to how much money higher education and other areas will gain from the However, next year's general-fun d revenue is expected to fall by roughlg $700 million from this year, and SB 228 will help budgety crafters be able to prioritize where that is taken from and how that monety is replaced in the Morse said.