Despite dismal budget forecast, Colorado WINS wants raise

Hours after the news broke that the state faces a $384 million budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year, the Colorado state employees’ union, Colorado WINS, asked the Joint Budget Committee for higher pay and benefits. Talk about awkward timing.

Mark Schwane, general counsel for the union, said the Legislature should consider cutting $1.6 billion in tax exemptions now given to businesses and individuals to pay for the new perks. Lawmakers used a recent ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court to sidestep a public vote on the matter that would otherwise be required by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights.

“The unions have their hands out even though it is painfully obvious that there is nothing left to hand out,” said House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, in a Tuesday release. “We are in the midst of a recession and facing a massive state budget shortfall.”

If sunsetting tax credits is the preferred method for funding a pay raise, Colorado WINS must act quickly: Referendum C, a five-year exemption from TABOR spending limits, expires in 2010, and with it goes the legal rationale for eliminating tax credits without a vote.

In November of 2007, Gov. Bill Ritter issued an executive order allowing for the unionization of state employees, though they weren't extended collective bargaining rights. Republicans warned that the move would lead to government growth and increased costs for taxpayers.

The union’s request for increased pay and benefits comes less than a month after a legislative audit revealed that those same employees are paid higher than comparable private sector employees. Even with a normally sympathetic Democrat-controlled General Assembly, this one will be a tough sell for union bosses.