Colorado Governor Ritter: Higher Education Funding Protected From Massive Cuts

April 13, 2009 -- Colorado Governor Bill Ritter said today that massive funding cuts to higher education are not an option because Colorado would forfeit $760 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

In a letter to the legislature's Joint Budget Committee, Gov. Ritter said new guidelines make it clear that a previous proposal to cut higher education by $300 million would have dropped the state below the $555 million level of FY05-06.

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Going below that level would make Colorado ineligible for all $760 million in State Stabilization Funds from the Recovery Act.

"Clearly, it would be counter-productive to cut higher education by $300 million only to lose the entire $760 million in Stabilization Funds," Gov. Ritter said. "I will continue working with the JBC and the legislature to close the budget gap. This includes ongoing discussions with Pinnacol Assurance and exploring other ways to close the remaining $300 million budget gap."

Gov. Ritter said the Stabilization Funds will be used to protect higher education funding. In fact, state funding for higher education can be maintained at the original FY 2008-09 level of $706 million for the current 2008-09 fiscal year and for the next two fiscal years by utilizing State Stabilization Funding from the Recovery Act.

"Over the past few months, working in partnership with the JBC and legislative leadership from both parties, we have closed most of the $1.5 billion budget shortfall caused by the downturn," Gov. Ritter said. "With just a few weeks remaining in the legislative session, we have more work to do to balance the budget, and we will balance this budget.

"As we make the same types of tough decisions that every family and every business is making in this downturn, we must protect long-term investments in education, job-creation and economic-development that will lead Colorado forward and position us for a strong recovery."

Colorado Governor