Press Release - State Budget Signed into Law
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OFFICE OF GOVERNOR BILL RITTER, JR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2009
CONTACT:
Evan Dreyer, 720.350.8370, evan.dreyer@state.co.us
GOV. RITTER SIGNS FY09-10 STATE BUDGET INTO LAW
Gov. Bill Ritter signed the $19.2 billion FY09-10 budget into law today, calling it a balanced and responsible plan that maintains priority investments in education, healthcare and job-creation, while protecting vital safety-net services during the worst economy in 75 years.
Gov. Ritter was joined by members of the Joint Budget Committee and legislative leadership as he signed Senate Bill 09-259, which takes effect July 1.
The Governor's remarks as prepared are below, and you can listen or download the audio file:
Good afternoon. Thank you all for being here. I'm joined by members of the Joint Budget Committee and legislative leadership to sign the 09-10 budget bill into law. This budget is balanced. It is responsible, and it prepares us for the future.
Putting this budget together was definitely a challenge, and in challenging times our values are tested the most, and a budget is absolutely a values document. It's the worst economy in 75 years. We had to close a budget gap of more than $1 billion, and it will cause pain in our communities and in the way we deliver services.
Today, after a lot of hard work by a lot of people, we not only have a balanced budget, we have a budget that protects our priorities: education and health care and economic development. And we have a budget that ensures vital safety-net services will continue for our most vulnerable populations, for people who live at the margins.
Just as families and businesses all across Colorado are doing, we made some very tough choices. We cut programs, we made transfers, we used the state's reserves, and thanks to the Recovery Act, we prevented hundreds of millions in cuts to K-12 education, higher education and healthcare.
This was not easy. But together, we have a budget that is responsible, a budget that reflects our values as a community, and a budget that will keep moving Colorado forward even in a tough economy.
We'll see what the June 20 forecast shows, and we'll do what it takes to keep the budget balanced.
We will also use this as a catalyst to keep looking for better ways to budget in the future, and we'll keep working on 21st century solutions to untie the 20th century Gordian knot of conflicting fiscal mandates.
I want to thank my budget director Todd Saliman and his staff, the JBC and its staff, and the legislature for all of their incredibly hard work, and for working so closely together over the past few months.
It's my honor to introduce Senator Moe Keller, the chair of the JBC.