Monday budget forecast could determine need for special session

Face the State Staff Report

When lawmakers finished this year's legislative session May 6, discussions immediately began on whether the General Assembly would be called back into session to deal with worsening revenue, forcing deeper state budget cuts. Updated financial forecasts are due on Monday and lawmakers are expecting to hear shortly thereafter if they will called back to work this summer.

A special session can be called one of two ways as defined in the state Constitution, either by an executive order from the governor or by written request from two-thirds of the House and Senate members. The last time a special session was called was by Republican Governor Bill Owens in June of 2006, to deal with a heated debate over immigration reform.

In May, Rep. Mike May, R-Parker, supported the special session, but now questions the Democratic leadership's ability to lead the process.

"Well, I'm a little bit about concerned about calling us back into session because we might try to raise fees and taxes," May said. "So we'll just have to wait for the numbers and see."

State bean counters will release an updated budget forecast Monday, covering the last month of the 2009 fiscal year plus forecasts for 2010. Once these numbers are released, lawmakers will have a better idea of the potential need for a special session to make further cuts to Colorado's budget. Some estimates peg the state's budget shortfall to be as much as $1.4 billion over the next two years.

Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, said Monday's forecasts will be the deciding factor in the need for a special session, and he wouldn't hesitate to push for all 100 lawmakers to come back to work.

"I feel strongly that it is the Legislative branch's authority to appropriate money and if the additional cuts are significant, and 100 legislators should be involved in that discussion," Weissmann wrote in an e-mail to Face the State. "Special session costs about $15,000 per day, maybe even more, but that expense is one that is worth it."

Sen. Minority leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, agreed there exists a sense of urgency to address the state budget.

"Like so many things in life, the longer you wait to make the tough budget choices, the tougher those tough choices get," Penry wrote in an e-mail. "If the revenues deteriorate much, we should sit down in a bipartisan way and decide whether it makes sense to come back in for a special session."

Calls to the governor's office and Democrat legislative leadership were not returned.