Guv's higher-ed funding pitch falls far short, GOP says

Senate Republican leaders said they were underwhelmed today after the governor proposed only a modest funding increase for higher education next year rather than the significant, long-term revenue stream that the state's campuses need.

Republicans unveiled a wide-ranging plan of their own last week to shore up higher education, including a proposal for a permanent trust that would tap into the state's surging oil and gas revenue to fund Colorado's colleges and universities. The GOP funding proposal by Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, and Rep. Al White, R-Winter Park, would generate an estimated $500 million to $1 billion in leasing fees to Colorado's state government and another $100 million or more annually for the next 20 to 30 years in mineral royalties and state and local energy taxes.

"The governor is promising a little more money without offering any new funding source," said Assistant Senate GOP leader Nancy Spence, who is also ranking Republican on the Senate Education Committee. "The real question is, what is this administration proposing to do over the long haul to shore up higher ed?"

Spence noted the governor's proposed increase is only slightly higher than the one higher ed got in this year's budget.

The administration of Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter is scheduled to present its full proposed budget for next year to the legislative Joint Budget Committee Thursday. Senate GOP chief Andy McElhany said the administration may have released its unambitious higher-ed funding pitch early to counter the rollout of the Republican plan.

"We weren't trying to draw a response," McElhany said. "We just wanted to present a plan that was rooted in reality rather than expecting the public to shoulder another tax hike. Frankly, the higher-ed community ought to feel a little insulted by the governor's approach."

The GOP plan would dedicate half of the revenue derived from natural gas production on the West Slope's Roan Plateau to a permanent trust fund for Colorado's colleges and universities. The legislators would dedicate the other half of the revenue to a trust fund for energy-impacted communities, with the interest providing a secure revenue stream for West Slope roads and bridges in perpetuity.

With revenue from oil and gas production soaring statewide, Republican lawmakers  are saying the Penry-White plan's formula could be applied to all the state's oil and gas revenue, including from the Roan, to help establish a permanent trust for higher ed. Already, the Roan proposal has sparked bipartisan negotiations within an interim committee formed last year to explore a new approach to spending the state’s energy.

Editorial boards at many of the state's leading newspapers--including the The Denver Post, the Rocky Mountain News, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel and the Durango Herald--have endorsed the Republicans' Roan plan, as  have various local governments and the West Slope advocacy group Club 20.