Colorado: Wade Buchanan

The smart folks over at the Bell Policy Center have some suggestions for nascent U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet who’s wrangling a compromise within the $900 billion federal stimulus bill a mere three week after his swearing-in.

Bell president Wade Buchanan and Policy director Rich Jones lay out a strategy in a letter sent today to Bennet that centers on a “do no harm” philosophy:

February 5, 2009

The Honorable Michael F. Bennet
702 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Bennet:

We welcome and respect your leadership as one of the senators negotiating possible changes in the economic stimulus package. We want to share our perspectives on several aspects of the package and their impact on promoting opportunity for all Coloradans.

Amid the hand-wringing over cuts to vital programs this year, a small group of lawmakers has been quietly mulling over an effort to undo one of the key constraints on the state budget.

And they have found new hope in a legal opinion that says their target, known as the Arves-choug-Bird limit, is not protected by the state constitution.

Named after the lawmakers who sponsored the legislation in 1991, the provision limits growth in spending from the state's general fund — the pot of money from which most operating needs are drawn — to no more than 6 percent a year.

With few exceptions, the provision prohibits any money collected beyond the limit from going to operating needs — the ongoing costs of state government to run prisons, schools, colleges, health care and social services.