Unforeseen consequences

CSU is in the middle of a budget nightmare

By CHRISTOPHER J. ORTIZ
The Rocky Mountain Collegian, Colorado State University

It happens every time. The blonde in the high heels is running away from the villain and instead of escaping out the front door she runs upstairs, trapping herself while the audience members shake their heads ponderously and ask "why?"
This November, voters may be asking the same question when legislators give them the choice of deciding whether or not they want to eliminate state funding for Colorado universities and colleges.
If you thought an 11 percent increase in tuition this year was bad, if this happens, prepare to pay double or even triple in tuition. If passed, the next amount due in your tuition bill could be $3,744 or a staggering $5,616 for in-state students.
The proposed legislation is devised not save the state from drowning in its pool of budget problems, but to merely throw it a life preserver to keep it afloat for the time being. For the third year in a row, the Joint Budget Committee is faced with the task of cutting government agencies, program and funding - including higher education - to the tune of $150 million. Sen. Ron Teck, R-Garfield and Mesa counties, wants to eliminate higher ed funding to help eliminate the state's projected $450 million deficit.
It might not seem like it, but it's either cut and/or eliminate funding for us or cut Medicaid funding - including prescription drug coverage and nursing home subsidies, according to a Sunday Denver Post article.
This makes either Teck or the JBC look like the villain.
The villain isn't Teck or the JBC or even Gov. Bill Owens. The big, bad monster in this budget horror flick is the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. A bill aimed at capping state expenditures and giving taxpayers refunds when the state had a surplus has now hamstrung Colorado. TABOR has become the Frankenstein's monster for Colorado voters.
And like all bad horror flicks, the sequels are always worse. Colorado's higher education system has lost $179 million since the 2001-02 fiscal year. This year, higher ed institutions will have to share $591 million, down from $770.
If it was between me getting a quality education or cutting grandma's prescription plan - of course I would choose the latter, but this bill makes it seem that those are the only two options.
This solution is a lose-lose. If voters decide to cut higher ed, they might as well as start painting the closed signs they are going to have to put on CSU's front door. The resolution to the state's budget nightmare is not cutting higher ed or cutting grandma's Medicaid coverage - it's killing TABOR. Instead of running upstairs and trapping itself, Colorado needs to kick TABOR squarely between the legs and head for the front door. When voters approved TABOR in 1992, do you think they intended to kill high ed or abandon grandma in the cold? Should we have to pay for TABOR's unforeseen consequences?
It is painfully obvious that TABOR has caused more damage than good and that it needs to be removed from the state constitution or be redefined so that lawmakers do not have to make a decision between turning off grandma's heat or killing higher ed. Only then can we escape TABOR's grasp.

Chris is the opinion editor for The Collegian. He is a senior majoring in history and journalism.