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March 25, 2008

Democratic Leaders Offer Solution to Higher Ed - Capital Construction Funding Crisis

Co_state_rep_james_riesberg Co_state_rep_bernie_buescher (DENVER) On the Capitol steps this afternoon, state leaders unveiled their proposal to rescue funding for completion of the science building on the Auraria campus in central Denver, and potentially providing funding for other key projects around the state as well.

Three very happy state leaders -- Governor Bill Ritter, State Representative Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction), Chair of the Joint Budget Committee, and State Representative Jim Riesberg (D-Greeley), Vice-Chair of the Capital Development Committee -- announced that they were able to create a last-minute solution to the crisis in higher education capital construction.  It was the culmination of months of work to allocate revenue from federal mineral leases (FMLs) equitably.

Unlike other economic projections for the state, the FML forecast is “growing at a robust rate,” according to Rep. Buescher. Subsequently, legislators are proposing a portion of the FML revenue be used to purchase Certificates of Participation, or COPs, in order to accelerate capital construction projects.  Legislative committees will then work together to distribute the funds for brick-and-mortar construction across the state.

“From the beginning, we faced 156 capital construction requests,” said Rep. Riesberg.  “Through the general fund, we were only able to fund 28 of those, and very few of those were multi-year requests. Now, with this new financing of about $150 million, we can go deeper into that list.  We will be able to look again at the multi-year projects in higher education that we could not prioritize this year.”

“Great news: The Auraria science building is next on the list and will be funded this year!” announced Rep. Buescher.  “This will make a real bite into the backlog of capital development projects. But this is only a start.  I am committed to doing more for Colorado’s children who deserve a growing economy, a 21st century education, and a safe society to grow up in.”


-- Posted by staff

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