Ritter's budget cuts including axing up to 266 state jobs

DENVER — Gov. Bill Ritter on Tuesday laid out his plan to cut $320 million from the state budget this year, including the elimination of up to 266 state employees, and cuts to medical programs and prison services.

(Click here to see a letter that Ritter sent to constitutents Tuesday about the budget cuts.)

Ritter said he did his best to protect critical programs necessary for public safety and welfare, but tough cuts had to be made. He also said he protected programs needed to help Coloradans who are struggling because of the economy.

"There is a lot of sacrifice that Colorado residents will be making," he told the Legislature's Joint Budget Committee.

Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, asked how people will be kept safe if the state reduces its mandatory five-year parole requirement for felons. Ritter assured lawmakers the public would not be at risk.

"There's pretty good evidence a five-year mandatory parole is actually too long," said Ritter, a former Denver district attorney. "A person fails or makes it in the first two or three years."

Ritter plans to issue an executive order that will take effect Sept. 1, but he will need legislative approval for some of his proposals, including a $10.50 fee for background checks for gun purchases. He said some of the state funds could be replaced with federal stimulus funding and other budget transfers.

Hardest hit are the departments of Corrections, Health Care Policy and Financing, and Human Services.

Ritter proposed cutting $25 million from corrections, including the elimination of 34 jobs providing academic and vocational training for about 2,000 new inmates, and programs for mental health and substance abuse. About $19 million would be saved by providing a shorter parole term for offenders who achieve their parole goals early.

Hospital provider rates would be cut 1.5 percent and non-medical transportation would be limited to two trips a week.

Pharmacy rates for medication would also be slashed, saving $1.7 million, and a 32-bed nursing facility in Grand Junction would be closed after those patients are shipped to community nursing facilities.

A program that provides $200 a month to 6,400 needy and disabled people while they wait for federal assistance would also be suspended Jan. 1.

Ritter said under the plan, critical programs would be protected, and he promised there will be no reduction in the number of medically indigent patients being served. He also said senior services, including meals-on-wheels and other programs, would be protected.

Ritter said state parks would remain open, but the state will charge increased user fees and some areas may be closed.

A summary of budget cuts proposed Tuesday by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter:

• Eliminate increases for prison academic and vocational training programs, reducing the programs' ability to serve an additional 2,000 offenders.
• Eliminate a pilot program for 200 parolees who need mental health and substance abuse treatment.
• Accelerate parole for eligible offenders who have achieved parole goals.
• Reduce rates for Medicaid providers by 1.5 percent.
• Lower the cap on non-medical transportation services to 2 trips per week from the current average of 3.3 trips per week.
• Cut pharmacy reimbursement rates.
• Eliminate the Function Family Therapy Program providing services to youths at risk of out-of-home placement.
• Close 59 beds at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan, including the Children's, Adolescents and Geriatric units, and transfer patients to community facilities.
• Close the Nursing Facility at Grand Junction Regional Center and move 32 "medically fragile" patients from the state operated Grand Junction Regional Center to community nursing facilities. One hundred twenty-five beds will remain in Grand Junction.
• Suspend the Aid to Needy and Disabled, State Only Program, which provides interim financial assistance to persons awaiting federal assistance.
• Impose a $10.50 fee for gun purchase background checks.