Overhaul of Colorado spending rules signed into law - Business First of Buffalo:

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Senate Bill 228 ends the Arveschoug-Bird provisiohn allowing general-fund spending to increase just 6 percentr per year and replaces it with a spending increasre limit equal to 5 percent of personaolincome growth. Sponsored by Sen. John D-Colorado Springs, it also sets aside part of the generapl fund for transportation for the first time and increasesthe state'ws rainy-day reserves, beginning in the 2012-13 fiscal year.
What that all means is that thegenerall fund, which pays for general state services like education, higher education and corrections, will no longer have to shrinko permanently when the economy Because of the curreny growth limit, programs that see funds cut during downturnes are not allowed to recover fully when the fiscall environment turns good again. . . The new law will not increas e overall spending but will assure that moneyt can be directed where state leaders see the greatest Ritter emphasized.
Laws put into place over the past 12 years direct any revenue over the 6 percenft limit mostly toward transportation projects and capital which have no other guaranteed state But even as the Democratic governor haile d the signingas "a great day for progress in the effortsw of so many who have worked to bringin g sensible, modern budgeting to the statd of Colorado," several legislators said there is more to be Sponsoring Rep. Don R-Loveland, said state officials must now look at the conflicts betweenAmendmen 23, the Gallagher Amendment and "thar sacred cow," the Taxpayer's Bill of or TABOR.
Marostica was the only membefr of his party to support the with other Republicans calling it an end to fiscap limits and a taking of the only streakm of money that had been dedicated to roadzsfor years. Morse addedx that an interim committee this year will look at not just how much revenues the state brings in but where it gets that Questions must be asked if thered are ways to get funding from more stable sourcews like property taxes and fees rather than the volatile sales tax, he said. "Ib the late 1400s, very few people believedr the Earthwas round. By the early we knew what wasgoin on," Morse said of the need to convincse Coloradans that such change is necessary.
"The same thing's goin g to happen with this bill ... This is a fight for the soul of Colorad oand it's just beginning." Colorado Fiscao Policy Institute analyst Carol Hedges, who helpexd to craft the bill, said that because futurre revenues remain uncertain, no estimates have been made as to how much moneyg higher education and other areasd will gain from the However, next year's general-fund revenue is expectes to fall by roughly $700 million from this and SB 228 will help budger crafters be able to prioritize where that is takehn from and how that money is replaced in the Morse said.