Colorado lawmakers spend millions on office renovations, new furniture amid budget crisis
For months, lawmakers on Colorado's Joint Budget Committee have poured over every line item in the general fund looking for a way to cut more than $1 billion.
Meanwhile, their own leadership has been sitting on $22 million in unspent appropriations that they rolled into a fund.
State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer -- a Republican and one of six budget writers -- discovered the money when she filled in for the Senate Minority Leader on a committee, "And I started asking questions," Kirkmeyer told CBS Colorado.
The more the Kirkmeyer learned, the more upset she became. For 12 years, leadership in the legislative branch has been rolling unspent general fund money into a fund controlled by six people -- the state speaker of the house, president of the state senate, the two majority leaders and two minority leaders. All of them voted unanimously to use $10 million from the fund to facilitate an office swap.
Currently, legislative staff members have offices in the basement of the Colorado State Capitol, while some lawmakers' offices are in other buildings. They want to move staff to a building across the street, so every lawmaker can have an office at the Capitol. They plan to spend $6 million to renovate offices and another $4 million on new furniture.
"We're spending $4 million on new furniture? That we don't need," Kirkmeyer said. "At the same time, we're in committee here at the Joint Budget Committee talking about the governor's budget request to reduce $3 million to neglected and abused children in our child welfare services. That is beyond me that anyone thinks that is OK."
"Is now the time to upgrade and make everything fancy and complete and perfect? Absolutely not," state Sen. Paul Lundeen told CBS Colorado.
Yet Lundeen, also a Republican, is among the leaders who originally voted for the renovations.
"I believe that legislators do better work when they are together in the Capitol building instead of the nonpartisan staff having nice offices in the Capitol," Lundeen said.
Lundeen also says he now opposes the new furniture, and he ultimately voted against the legislative branch's final budget due to concerns about the spending.
Leadership plans to return about $4 million to the general fund. Kirkmeyer wants all $22 million.
"We should expect from state government budgeting the same thing that hardworking taxpayer families in this state expect when they're doing their own budget," Kirkmeyer said. "If they don't have the money for health care, they don't go on vacation. If they don't have the money to take their children to the dentist, they don't say, 'God, let's go buy a new dining room table.' I mean, they don't do that. Why do they think it's OK to do that here."
Speaker Julie McCluskie says the costs for the renovations and furniture are not final. She says leadership is looking for ways to complete the project as cost-effectively as possible, and she says they've trimmed the legislature's overall budget.
Kirkmeyer says they're still asking for more money than last year. She wants the whole project put on hold.
