| APRIL NEWSLETTER Spring is in the air, which means only a month of session left and more daily sun! The last couple of weeks have been filled with a mix of tough fiscal cuts, yet personal victories as well. Balancing the Budget You get what you pay for In the last ten years, the state budget shrank by 28% and the population grew by 18%. This means more students to educate, more struggling families needing medical care, more roads to build, and more inmates to house with less money to afford these critical services. Budget Choices - Tough times, tough cuts Leadership means making difficult decisions. When faced with a $1 billion shortfall, we focused on what matters most to people. Like Colorado's responsible families and businesses, we practiced fiscal prudence and delivered a balanced budget. Today, one state employee serves approximately 400 Coloradans. There are 1,150 fewer employees in the executive branch than two years ago. To further tighten our belts, we made these cuts: K-12 Education: $260 million State Employees' Pay: $37 million Medicaid: $17.9 million Higher Education: $61.5 million Personnel: $9.6 million Doing more with less - Balancing the budget Unlike the federal government, we balance our budget every year. Colorado never runs a deficit. For the past three years, the Democrats have continually reduced state spending per capita while protecting the most vital services for Coloradans. With extremely limited resources, our state still offers a high quality of life. Part of this high standard of living means building opportunities. That's why we protected valuable programs for Colorado kids and struggling families. We know Colorado can do better for our most precious resource - our children - that's why we preserved the Children's Health Insurance Plan. We protected full-day kindergarten programs and spots for 20,000 preschoolers. We also safeguarded services for people who have disabilities, our most vulnerable citizens. And we protected women, infants, and children from going hungry by maintaining the Supplemental Food Grant Program. School Finance Act Faced with financial challenges, we were forced to tighten our belt when we passed the School Finance Act for 2011. This bill will save the state $260 million by reducing the collateral funding for education across all of Colorado's school districts. It was not an easy choice for any of us, but with extremely limited options, it was a necessity. Each district will see a reduction in funding by a total of 6.35%. Research shows that investing early in a child's life makes a huge difference in preventing crime, developing our future workforce, and better planning for business. That's why, even in these times of difficulty, we have safeguarded vital early education programs. We've preserved funding for 20,000 preschool students, and we will continue to fund half-day kindergarten. Freedom Service Dogs I was honored to visit the Freedom Service Dogs facility in Englewood and meet with veterans and their service dogs last Sunday. Today, we passed a senate joint resolution to honor this wonderful organization .  Personal Victories On a lighter note, I've been fortunate to recently have some personal victories: Due to some hard work and delicate negotiation, I'm proud to say that my SB171 Child Protection Ombudsman Bill passed the Senate unanimously! Now, it's on the way to the House, so I'll be working with the House Sponsor, Representative Gagliardi, to ensure its passage there. Also this week, we found some money for the bill on a fluke in the budget (long story), so we'll need less from private donations! This week, we start the Joint Select Committee on Child Welfare, which I will be chairing. I'm looking forward to the challenge of educating my fellow legislators on the challenges that remain within the child welfare system. This is certainly fitting for Child Abuse Prevention Month. I just found out that I've been accepted to the Kennedy Management School summer program at Harvard for Senior Executives in Government. I am so excited! As spring turns into summer and the session begins to wind down, I predict that I will look back on my second session in the Colorado State Senate with pride. Good things are happening here; despite rhetoric that might say otherwise, and I thank you for all the support and strength you've infused in my role here, representing your thoughts and concerns. Please join me at my town hall meetings: First Monday of each month at 7:00 A.M. at South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce on University Blvd. and Arapahoe -- Next one on May 3rd Second Saturday of each month at 9:00 A.M. at Blueberry's Cafe on Littleton Blvd. and Windermere -- Next one on May 8th | 
