Governor’s 2018 Budget Proposal Released

Governor John Hickenlooper unveiled his 2018 budget proposal on Wednesday. As Bente Birkeland reports, it would put more money into education, public safety and a rainy day fund…

State lawmakers ultimately craft and pass the budget, but it’s based on the Governor’s original request. Henry Sobanet is his budget director. He says there was a concerted effort to put more money into colleges and universities that were hard hit during the recession.

“Are we giving people an affordable chance to get an education and compete in the economy? … All the pressures that have gone on into higher ed, over the years tuition has gone up a lot. We have a little room in the general fund, this is a chance to have tuition increases be a little lower.”

For in-state students Sobanet says the increases will average 3 percent. Hickenlooper is also proposing to increase the budget reserve to 7 percent to prepare for the next recession. He’s also backing the idea of shoring up public pensions and putting more money into broadband for rural areas.