Ritter Signs Budget

Gov Ritter signed of on the new budget with a mention that he wanted to reduce recidivism. The Governors Recidivism Reduction Plan was added to the budget that Bill Owens submitted before he left office. A 6.3% budget increase that will add money to mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment and community corrections beds.

Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter signed the $17.8 billion state budget Wednesday, saying he put his own stamp on the spending plan he inherited from Republican Gov. Bill Owens and included a few course changes as well.

However, Ritter followed Owens' lead by vetoing 88 budget notes containing instructions from lawmakers on how the money should be spent. Ritter told majority Democrats they can't tell him what to do.

Ritter said he tried to give voters what they asked for during his campaign last year - responsible, conservative spending - although the budget was being worked on when he took office.

Ritter said he changed the spending plan, which includes a 6.3 percent increase in the operating budget, to focus more on keeping people out of prisons, instead of building new ones, and put more money into mental health treatment.

"We're changing how government works and how we can be smarter about how we spend taxpayer dollars," Ritter said.

Despite bipartisan support for the budget, Ritter sided with his predecessors in a long-running dispute between the legislature and the governor's office over who controls state spending.

Rocky Mountain News