So it is possible to cut state government spending by at least two percent, because the agencies proposed such a cut, but then it was tossed in the garbage can and chalked up as some sort of homework exercise.
Gov. Hickenlooper is now hiding what those cuts proposed, and instead presented the new 2018-19 budget with spending increases to lawmakers.
The problem is, the two percent cut proposal was actually mandated by the state legislature, so they have every right to see it, as does the public.
Republican lawmakers were forced to use the Colorado Open Records Act to demand the budget cuts be released. However 9 News reports the governor’s office says the budget cuts are not public record because Hickenlooper didn’t include the reductions in the budget.
The Governor’s staffer told us, “If there are certain legislators that feel the language of the bill doesn’t match their intent, we share that frustration for other reasons as well. If they want to work to correct errors like this in Senate Bill 267, we’re open with talking to them.”
It sounds like spending cuts have been kidnapped until Republicans help Hickenlooper collect more taxes.
9 News has also requested those budget cuts under the open records law, and we expect they will eventually get those documents, if they put up a fight.
Despite the state’s claim, it is most certainly a public record when a budget is proposed and sent to the governor. Budgets are not top secret, even by federal government standards.