Penry plan to tap oil and gas revenue for higher ed wins key vote

A bipartisan proposal that would finance higher education across the state with revenue generated by Colorado's energy boom won the unanimous support of the Senate Committee on Education today at the Capitol. 

Senate Bill 218, whose key sponsors include West Slope Republican Sen. Josh Penry,  would allocate nearly $1 billion over ten years into two permanent funds--one solely for higher education and the other for upgrading public infrastructure in areas affected by oil and gas drilling.  The windfall would include revenue that is expected to come from drilling on the Roan Plateau on the Western Slope.

The plan--an outgrowth of a proposal originally championed by Penry, of Grand Junction--would ensure funding to institutions of higher learning even when energy development stops.  It sets aside bonus payments and royalties received from the federal government for energy development on federal lands and dedicates the funds to the state's colleges and universities as well as local maintenance and construction needs.

"When Al White and I proposed this plan earlier this summer, I never would have guessed that our once controversial proposal would earn such bipartisan support," Penry said after the hearing. "All the parties that have worked so hard deserve real credit on this landmark proposal." 

Penry added, "In a political process when partisanship too often carries the day, this is truly bipartisan achievement, with bigger results for Colorado." 

Joining Penry on the proposal was Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, who helped brief committee members on the bill at today's hearing.  Sponsoring the bill in the House of Representatives were Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, and Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction.

Last year, Gov. Bill Ritter and Democrats in the legislature initially rejected any plan to use the oil and gas revenue to fund education--and were vocally opposed to any energy development on the Roan Plateau.  The Ritter administration's new-found support for tapping the revenue represents an about-face on the issue by Democrats, Republicans say. 

"The Roan plan is embodied in this proposal," Penry told committee members when presenting the bill.

The plan takes advantage of surging oil and gas revenue from energy exploration, which now is the state's largest industry.  Oil and gas development comprises 6% of Colorado's economy--generating $22.9 billion a year, according to a recent study by the Colorado School of Mines.

For the better part of two years members of both parties have been searching for ways to bridge the funding gap in higher education.