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House measure nixes budget-growth limit
Herald Denver Bureau
Senate Bill 228 removes the law that restricts the main part of the state budget to 6 percent growth per year. Most Republicans argued against it, because right now, any money left above the 6 percent limit goes to highways.
Ironically, the highway-construction industry was the target of a deal brokered last week by Ritter. His new plan replaces the 6 percent limit with a higher one keyed to the personal income of all Coloradans. It also dedicates about $160 million a year to highways between 2012 and 2017, as long as the economy rebounds.
But the deal cost Ritter the support of two senior Democrats.
Gunnison Rep. Kathleen Curry, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, regretted that the governor and construction lobby changed the bill to dedicate money to highways.
"This was our bill. This wasn't about the first floor or the lobbyists," Curry said.
"First floor" is legislative lingo for the governor, whose office is on the first floor of the Capitol.
Ritter also lost the support of Boulder Rep. Jack Pommer, vice chairman of the Joint Budget Committee. Pommer predicted the highway money will end up requiring deep cuts in the state budget in the early years of the next decade.
"I completely support getting rid of the 6 percent limit, but I don't think doing it this year is worth the price we're going to have to pay," Pommer said.
The bill passed the House 35-29. The Senate needs to agree with the new plan before the bill can go to Ritter for final approval.
In other action:•Police officers could pull people over for not wearing seat belts under a bill approved by a Senate panel Tuesday.
While seat belts are already mandatory in Colorado, officers can issue tickets only if they pull drivers over for some other infraction.
Senate Bill 296 makes seat-belt violations a "primary offense," meaning police officers could pull over drivers if they see them not wearing a seat belt. It passed the Senate Transportation Committee 4-3 Tuesday and now goes to the full Senate.
In previous years, similar bills have failed because of concerns about civil liberties. SB 296 is getting started late in the year. With the session scheduled to end May 6, it had its first hearing Tuesday.
•Democrats on Tuesday killed one of the two bills that uses the Legislature's newfound power to repeal tax breaks.
Pommer asked to have his House Bill 1355 killed. It would have ended the tax exemption for food sold from vending machines.
But a related bill is still alive. House Bill 1342 repeals the sales-tax exemption for cigarettes. It passed both the House Appropriations Committee and its initial vote in the full House on Tuesday.
If it becomes law, the bill would be the first time since the 1992 passage of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights that legislators repealed a tax break without asking permission from Colorado voters. The Legislature's legal department said a March 16 Supreme Court ruling gives lawmakers the power to end tax breaks.
The House defeated a Republican amendment to send the bill to the voters in November.
Sponsors on Tuesday limited the repeal to the next two years. The bill should raise $30 million for the state coffers per year.
jhanel@durangoherald.com
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