... tend to arrive late when you stay up (due to a sick kid) to watch the first few innings of the Red Sox game... and the game is being played in Japan.
The Growth of Colorado Government
The debate continues on the proposal to add 1,334 new jobs to state government.
Meanwhile, Greeley State Senator Scott Renfroe has an op-ed in the Tribune about the proposed budget:
The proposed FY 2008-09 budget provides for the following general fund increases: $157 million for K-12 education; $69.1 million for the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing; $64.6 million for higher education; $52 million for the Department of Corrections; $44.6 million for the Department of Human Services; and $29.5 million for the judicial branch. There are 49,488 full-time equivalent positions in Colorado's state government. This proposal also requests 1,334 additional full-time equivalent positions.
Here's the one point that needs be made, repeatedly: The Transportation Commission has determined that CDOT needs an additional $500 million per year just to maintain the roads we have (and $1.5 billion to actually improve our roadways and address future needs).
The Democratic legislature is adding jobs without addressing this pressing need, and yet if you were to add up all of the budget increases that Senator Renfroe points out and shift all of that revenue towards transportation, together they wouldn't cover CDOT's needs.
Solutions anyone?
Evans Election
Mail ballots are due on April 8. Here's an overview from the Tribune on the contested races.
Fort Collins Sales Tax Troubles
Uh oh.
FORT COLLINS -- Net taxable retail sales in Fort Collins were down 1.6 percent in January over the same month in 2007, with $175.1 million in net taxable retail sales compared to $177.9 million a year earlier.
Remember, the city budget borrows against sales tax revenues growing significantly over the next two years.
(But don't worry, folks, Linda Stanley assures us that Fort Collins has a business-friendly city government.)
