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

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The report from the Center for Colorado’s Economif Future at DU is titlecd “Colorado’s State Budget Tsunami.” It is to be formallg released Tuesday. “There is simply not enough monegy to pay for the government wehave created,” the reportr says. “Barring a quick and dramatic turnaround of the it appears that the current fiscal systek cannotbe sustained.” In announcing the report’sz findings, DU noted that “anticipated fiscapl demands for K-12 education, prisons and Medicaid will swamp today’s revenue-generating tax and fee in Colorado.
The report recommendz a review of the statebudget “It is once again time to take a criticakl look at where we are and staryt the process of a much-needed it says. Colorado lawmakers this year made steeo cuts in state programs and drew on federal stimuluas funds to balancethe budget, and then that the stater faces a $384 million revenue shortfall for next year. “The budgetary tsunami that washed over Coloradio government last fall and winter was likely just thefirstr wave. More tidal waves in [fisca year] 2010-11 threaten to keep the general fund underwatedr and lawmakers struggling to findnew lifelines.
” • “The largesg departments of state government are growing more than twice as fast as tax dollarsa are coming in, leaving a lot less moneuy available for other needs.” • prisons and health care consumerd about 54 cents of every generao fund dollar a decadwe ago. They now eat up nearly 76 centws of every generalfund dollar, and that figure will jump to 91 cents in five years if the average growt rate continues. Eventually, at this rate, thers would be no money for other programs.
” • “There is little question the financial difficulties facedby Colorado’s state governmengt during this decade’s two recessions will continue into the future. The proble m is mathematical – there is simplu not enough money to pay for the government we have created and the services many of us have come to Center director CharlesBrown co-authored the report with Jeffrey Roberts. The full report is to be releasefd Tuesday at a10 a.m.
MDT news and Brown is slated to testify on its findingxs before thestate legislature’s Fiscal Stabilization Commission on The Center for Colorado’ss Economic Future describes itself as “an nonpartisan organization that conducts research on matters relateed to Colorado’s fiscal health, trends affectingv the state’s economy and proposer legislation relating to taxation and public spending.
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