At what price does the Colorado Legislature balance the state budget?

Kicking several thousand legal immigrants off Medicaid. Taking $100 million away from higher education. Taking $50 million from the state education fund. Cutting numerous smaller programs such as youth correction programs, a prenatal care program for poor women, and funding for the Colorado Council for the Arts.

The list goes on and on and on.

Now I certainly don’t envy the legislators having to decide what gets cut, nor do I place the blame on them for denying thousands of people things they have come to depend on. But, in this time of financial woe, isn’t it perhaps time to rethink the requirement of state law that the budget be balanced?

Certainly in the abstract, balancing the budget sounds like a good idea. Nobody wants to go into debt. It seems to make sense until you think about the fact that virtually no one else in the world functions on a balanced budget. Virtually every business runs on some amount of credit, spending more than it earns, and so do most households. Spending beyond one’s means has simply become a way of life. If that statement makes your sense of frugality bristle, think of it this way: all of this spending is investment. When a business makes a large purchase on credit, it is hoping for a return and a profit. Now, while the kind of investment made by government doesn’t assume a financial return, it is investment nonetheless – investment in a better state.

Moreover, there is very little risk in running a deficit, so long as it is kept reasonable.

Nevertheless, with a constitution and a legislature dominated by fierce fiscal conservatism, these arguments matter little. So instead, thousands and thousands of people get screwed in one way or another. I guess our “bleeding hearts” will just have to bleed for a while.