Beauprez signs petition on excess Ref C funds

Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 8, 2006 at midnight

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Gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez on Sunday became the first person to sign a petition for a proposed ballot measure to use excess Referendum C revenue to offset heating bills.

Beauprez said he agreed to back the measure because he is frustrated that the Democratic-controlled state legislature, which could adjourn as early as today, killed proposals to establish a rainy-day fund the state could rely on in lean times.

Lawmakers had floated various rainy-day proposals that ranged from setting aside excess revenues generated by Referendum C to using tobacco settlement funds.

"Government has an insatiable appetite," said Beauprez, a Republican congressman from Arvada.

"It's become apparent to me that Democrats in the Legislature won't be satisfied with anything short of spending every last dime that comes into the state treasury over the next five years."

Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, said he, too, is frustrated that rainy-day proposals were killed.

But Romanoff said that voters last fall were told that Ref C money was going to be used for education, health care, higher education and roads.

He called the proposal to return Ref C money to Coloradans in the form of heating bill rebates "a gimmick," much like the one proposed in Washington to give $100 gas rebates to fed-up consumers.

The ballot measure - known as Home Energy Adjustment Tax-Rebate or HEAT - is the brainchild of one of Ref C's biggest opponents, Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute.

Voters last fall approved Referendum C, which allowed the state to suspend spending limits for five years and keep tax revenues that otherwise would have been returned to taxpayers. At the time, the state predicted the pot of Ref C money at $3.7 billion, but the economy has improved enough that the latest revenue forecast put the amount at $4.1 billion, and more growth is expected.

Here's how HEAT would work if Caldara were to get enough signatures to put it on the ballot, and if it won voter approval:

The amount of Ref C money above the $3.7 billion mark would be divided by the total number of exemptions claimed on state income tax returns. The head of the household would receive a check each October based on how many people live in the household.

Beauprez said he supports the proposal because "a deal is a deal."

"The voters were told government was going to take $3.7 billion, not more than that," he said.

Countered Romanoff: "There are a lot of things we can do to produce relief for high energy bills, but raiding Ref C is not one of them."

He said thanks to the passage of Referendum C, the state was able to fund an energy-assistance program.

If Ref C had failed, state leaders predicted they would have had to close community colleges, state parks and again slash programs for the mentally ill and disabled. Because of the recession, the state had already made about $1 billion in budget cuts.

Republican Gov. Bill Owens supported Ref C. Beauprez and the other Republican candidate in the race, Marc Holtzman, opposed Ref C. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter supported it.

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