{"id":807,"date":"2025-08-18T18:59:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T18:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.canoeinstructor.com\/?p=807"},"modified":"2025-08-21T12:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T12:05:11","slug":"we-dont-need-a-special-session-we-need-an-intervention-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.canoeinstructor.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/18\/we-dont-need-a-special-session-we-need-an-intervention-opinion\/","title":{"rendered":"We don\u2019t need a special session; We need an intervention (Opinion)"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Gov. Jared Polis announced a special session to address a so-called “budget hole<\/a>,” he and partisan Democrats were quick to point their fingers at Washington, D.C., blaming Republicans in Congress for our state’s fiscal troubles.<\/p>\n

The real problem isn’t in Washington. The real issue is right here at home, under the Gold Dome.<\/p>\n

As a member of the Joint Budget Committee, I have a front-row seat to Colorado’s fiscal reality. The truth is, regardless of what happened in Congress, the Colorado state budget was already projected to start the next fiscal year at least $700 million in the red. Why? Because of years of overspending, a lack of priorities, and zero budgetary discipline from the majority party.<\/p>\n

Over the last seven years, Colorado has added more than 7,000 new full-time state employees. We\u2019ve created a brand-new department and several new offices. That is not the behavior of a state with a revenue problem; it\u2019s the behavior of a state with a priority problem. One-party control placed more importance on growing the size of government and creating new programs than on funding the essentials like K-12 education, health care, roads, and public safety.<\/p>\n

Rather than taking responsibility for their choices, Polis and his allies want to raise taxes again, only this time they\u2019re aiming squarely at the people who can least afford it. Their plan includes ways to exempt Colorado taxes from the recent federal tax breaks — increasing taxes on overtime and doing the same for taxes on small businesses and job creators. These aren’t just “wealthy corporations”; these are the neighborhood restaurants, family-owned shops, and the very workers who are already struggling with the highest inflation in a generation.<\/p>\n

This approach is cynical. It’s shortsighted. And it’s wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, we don\u2019t have the cash to pay our bills.\u201d That\u2019s not me saying it; that\u2019s from the governor\u2019s own budget director. So where is the governor\u2019s plan to reduce General Fund spending, and why hasn\u2019t he promptly implemented it? Did he suddenly forget how to issue an executive order?<\/p>\n

Past governors, facing far greater economic challenges after the 9\/11 terrorist attacks and the Great Recession, immediately cut spending and discontinued non-essential services. If Polis truly wanted the legislature’s help, he would have given us the authority in the special session to cut spending.<\/p>\n

But in spite of the governor\u2019s lack of action and unwillingness to work with Republicans, my colleagues and I are introducing a bill to save $663 million, and not a single person\u2019s tax bill will go up. By pausing the refund in the family affordability tax credit that sends hundreds of millions of dollars out the door each year, we can close the entire budget shortfall without raising taxes on anyone. It\u2019s a simple, responsible step to keep our budget balanced and protect essential services.<\/p>\n

Colorado’s families are tightening their belts every month to make ends meet. It’s time their state government learned to do the same and keep more money in the pockets of hardworking families, small business owners, and employees, exactly where it belongs.<\/p>\n