Just one day after statehouse Republicans called for a freeze in state hiring to prepare for a souring economy, Gov. Bill Ritter announced Thursday that the executive branch would not make any new hires starting Oct. 1.
“It does appear our call to action did not fall on deaf ears,” said Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray. “Although the steps he took are not as bold as the ones taken by [former Gov. Bill] Owens in 2002.”
In 2002, Owens, a Republican, made across-the-board budget cuts in response to the economic afterschock caused by Sept. 11. The action resulted in most state agencies slashing their budgets by about 10 percent.
In a late afternoon press release sent out Thursday, Ritter outlined steps he says his administration will take to protect Colorado taxpayers against the downturning economy, the first of which is to halt all new hires made by the executive branch.
“I am taking these steps as a prudent, conservative and responsible contingency plan,” Ritter said in the release.
Ritter said the freezes would not apply to the Department of Education or departments headed by other statewide elected officials, although he did encourage those officials to take similar steps. He also requested that higher education institutions and state agencies delay the start of new state-funded construction projects. Ritter also said that his administration will be holding off on issuing grants for full-day kindergarten capital construction projects.
Ritter also said he will be "directing department heads to scrutinize their budgets for additional savings and work with their employees to identify other money-saving ideas and strategies."
Republican leaders are questioning, however, if the Ritter’s response is timely and significant enough to make a difference.
“I hope the Governor’s actions aren’t just a day late and a dollar short,” said House Minority Whip Cory Gardner, a Yuma Republican. “We ought to be freezing hiring across the board.”
Upon the release of a report by Legislative Council earlier this week concluding that the state faces nearly $100 million in possible debt, Senate and House Republicans issued an urgent call Wednesday to halt all taxpayer-funded new hires. They denounced the size of this year's state budget, approved over the objection of many GOP lawmakers. It is a record-setting $17.6 billion budget, growing by nearly seven percent from Ritter’s first year in office and adding more than 1,300 employees to the state payroll.
Republicans lamented the budget's passage at the time and questioned where funds to pay for the budget increase would come from.
“We’ve been urging the Governor for months to stop spending,” Gardner added. “I just hope it isn’t too late.”
Calls to Ritter spokesman Even Dreyer were not returned as of press time.