CSU leaders stump for more funding as TABOR places constraints

Denver Post: It will take a coalition to build public support for increasing funding for higher education. Less than a month after officially taking the reins at Colorado State University, Tony Frank and Joe Blake hit the road this week to carry a message of need to business groups in Steamboat Springs and Glenwood Springs. And Gov. Bill Ritter, Blake and University of Colorado president Bruce Benson recently discussed building a team to focus attention on the finances of the state's universities, CU Regents spokesman Ken McConnellogue said. Blake and Frank said getting public support for changes needed to increase funding — which could include a tax hike — will require a campaign similar to the one waged for Referendum C in 2005.

That push crossed party lines and brought together politicians, business groups and others, including Blake, who was then at the helm of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, and Benson, then a oil and gas developer. The campaign resulted in a five- year timeout from revenue restrictions set by Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, or TABOR. Referendum C expires at the end of 2010, and the restrictions will go back into effect. Legislators understand the problems faced by the state's colleges, Frank said. But constitutional spending limits place constraints on how they can dole out funds. Benson, who said he voted for TABOR, which requires voter approval of tax increases, said he couldn't rule out an effort to boost taxes "if that is what it takes." "We have got to do something because we are in a world of hurt," he said.

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