On Backbone Radio, Andrews repeated falsehood about money the state expected to retain under Referendum C

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

On KNUS 710 AM's Backbone Radio, host John Andrews pointed to the latest revenue forecast to misleadingly suggest Colorado voters “were not told about” how much money the state would retain under Referendum C. In fact, the 2005 Colorado Blue Book explicitly stated that the $3.7 billion figure was an estimate that, depending on the economy, could change.

During a discussion with state Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) on the February 25 broadcast of KNUS 710 AM's Backbone Radio, host John Andrews misleadingly suggested that Colorado voters “were not told about” the "$2 billion of windfall" that resulted from the passage of Referendum C. In fact, as Colorado Media Matters has noted, the 2005 Colorado Blue Book specified in its analysis of Referendum C that the $3.7 billion figure it cited was an “estimate” of the revenue the state could retain under the measure, and that the exact amount “could be higher or lower,” depending on the economy.

Gardner, the House minority whip, explained that estimates determined Referendum C would enable the state to retain “around $3.7 billion of returns that would no longer be going to the people of Colorado. Latest projections show that at $5.7 billion.” Andrews interrupted Gardner to say, “This is $2 billion of windfall out of family and business pockets that are going into the pockets of state bureaucrats that we were not told about when the state narrowly approved Referendum C.”

However, the Blue Book specifically stated that the “exact amount of the spending increase could be higher or lower, depending on the economy and the amount of money collected.” Furthermore, in approving Referendum C in 2005, Colorado voters authorized the state “to retain and spend all state revenues” through 2010, suspending the spending restrictions imposed on state coffers by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR).

From the February 25 broadcast of KNUS 710 AM's Backbone Radio:

ANDREWS: Now, just a couple of minutes left. The state is roll -- rolling in much bigger revenue increases than even voters were told to expect 15 months ago when they approved the Referendum C lifting of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights limitations. And your colleague, [Rep.] Kevin Lundberg [R-Berthoud], had a excellent bill that went down in committee this week that would have capped off and begun to return to hard-working taxpayers some of this huge bonanza of state revenues. What about the battle to either start refunding some of these surpluses or perhaps to put 'em away in a rainy day fund? Are Republicans gonna be able to get any traction or any Democrat allies on this, Cory?

GARDNER: You know, absolutely, I think. I'll answer the first part -- first part of the question now and then the second part in a little bit. You know, we -- we, we have to simply do a better job of putting our fiscal house in order, making sure that we are managing the state dollar. Instead of spending every dime, we're actually putting some away so that we don't have to go back to the taxpayers and increase taxes on a massive scale like we just did. Referendum C was estimated to be around 3.7 billion dollars of returns that would no longer be going to the people of Colorado. Latest projections show that at 5.7 billion dollars. And so revenue growth --

ANDREWS: Wait --

GARDNER: -- in the state of Colorado --

ANDREWS: Wait a minute. I want to be sure people heard that. This is 2 billion dollars of windfall out of family and business pockets that are going into the pockets of state bureaucrats that we were not told about when the state narrowly approved Referendum C. Two billion dollars of windfall and yet the Democrat-run legislature is not friendly to giving any of it back, or even putting any of it in a rainy day savings account.