Another Solution for the State’s Fiscal Problems

Tired of the bickering at the State Capitol about how to solve Colorado’s budget problems? Have you tuned out already? Have you heard…? If you heard that the budget so-called “crisis” can be solved without tampering with TABOR, raising taxes, or cutting effective state services, what would you say?

I know what I said when I heard: “What are they arguing about?” Because it’s true. Experts from the free-market think tank Reason Foundation, Geoff Segal and George Passantino, teamed up with the Independence Institute to take a close look at the Colorado state budget. These guys have advised Gov. Schwarzenegger how California can emerge from its multi-billion dollar deficit. By comparison, Segal and Passantino say that Colorado faces a “minor crunch.”

The result? A new study titled Priority Colorado that shows how the state government can save between $347 and $615 million just by running things more efficiently. The state of South Carolina followed a similar program and shaved 1 percent off its annual budget.

Some of their ideas?

1. Asset divestiture

2. Competitive sourcing

3. Consolidation

4. Sentencing reform

5. Returning to core functions

6. Medicaid reform

7. Realigning education strategies

8. Procurement reform

Is your legislator willing to do the serious hard work of making government function more efficiently? It’s a lot easier to pit the taxpayers and the recipients of government services against each other, saying there’s no choice but the former has to cough up more money or the latter is going to lose some kind of benefit.

The problem is the way state government wastes money. Well, let’s do it right. Who are we paying our legislators to work for anyway? Priority Colorado is at least worth close review, serious consideration, and public debate.