COLORADO FACES $249M BUDGET SHORTFALL FOR REMAINING FISCAL YEAR

DENVER—    Monday, Colorado’s Legislative Council released its economic forecast.  For budget year 2008-09, which ends June 30th, 2009, there is an estimated $249 million shortfall.  Thanks to the hard work of the Joint Budget Committee Colorado has a balanced budget and, despite these numbers, the General Assembly will not have to reconvene for a special session.  For fiscal year 2009-10 Colorado faces a $384 million shortfall according to Legislative Council.  Nearly all the decrease in the General Fund Revenue forecast was due to a decrease in income tax and sales tax revenue as a result of the economic downturn.

The numbers are bleak but these are not the numbers I agonize over. It’s the nearly 47,000 Coloradans who are out of work, the 17,000 children who lost access to health clinics, the middle-class college kid who can no longer pay the ever-increasing tuition bill – these are the numbers I’m focused on. While tough times don’t last, tough people do.  We’ll lead the state through this recession and move forward to a brighter future.