The State of the States: It'$ Complicated

DENVER -- Budget woes and partisan one-upmanship are competing in some 45 state legislatures, many of them starting work this month.

Across the nation, governors are setting out agendas for lawmakers. Gov. Bill Ritter, a Colorado Democrat, took the podium Thursday, a week after announcing he wouldn't run for reelection. In that state, the bad news comes with a capital B, as in a $1 billion shortfall.
"We're going to have to do things we don't want to do," Ritter told legislators Thursday. "We cannot get distracted by partisan politics."

Easy for him to say. The outcome of the 2010 elections will be pivotal, not only in Colorado but elsewhere. Here and in most other states, legislators have some control, if not total control, in reapportioning state legislative seats and redistricting congressional seats based on this year's census numbers.

But before those elections, states must face some tough budget decisions. Colorado's 2011 shortfall is 10 percent of its general fund, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, but that's relatively tame compared with states such as Arizona, Oklahoma, Iowa, New Jersey and others.

According to the NCSL, this will be the third year of budget trouble for most states. North Dakota is the only one that's remained relatively unscathed by the Great Recession.

In his State of the State speech, Ritter said Colorado revenue won't recover for at least a year. He's expected to propose more spending cuts later this month, and he may suggest rescinding some tax breaks instituted in 1999 and 2000.

Here's a look at a few other governors facing challenging legislative sessions:

In California, term-limited GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for reforming the state's generous state pension system to help close a $20 billion budget gap in the next 18 months.

In Kansas, Democratic Gov. Mark Parkinson wants hikes on cigarette and sales taxes to cope with a $400 million shortfall. A former Republican, he switched parties to run for lieutenant governor in 2006 and took over the top job last year when Kathleen Sebelius became Health and Human Services Secretary. He isn't running for reelection.

In Arizona, Republican Gov. Jan Brewer fingered Washington, D.C., and her predecessor, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, for the state's budget problems. She wants to cut state spending by $1 billion, in part by trimming state jobs, and also wants to raise some revenues, perhaps through a temporary sales-tax hike. She'll be taking such action as she runs for election to the post she assumed after Napolitano's departure a year ago.

In New York, Democratic Gov. David Paterson called out lawmakers for "running New York like a payday loan operation." He's recommending long-term planning and a range of budget reforms. Meanwhile, Paterson, who stepped in when Gov. Eliot Spitzer stepped aside, faces a tough primary against Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

In Colorado, Republican leaders responded to the governor's address by calling on him to abandon efforts to rescind "temporary" tax breaks instituted years ago when state coffers overflowed. The GOP is hoping to reverse the blue-state trend that started in 2004, when Democrats won a U.S. Senate seat, the governor's office and both chambers of the General Assembly. Two of their 2010 targets sat in front-row seats for Ritter's address: Denver Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper and Ritter-appointed U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.

And Ritter did take aim at the upcoming elections in his address -- but not at candidates on either side. Voters will consider three ballot measures in November that would dramatically cut taxes, and with them government services. Ritter called on lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to actively oppose the measures:

"Coloradans must unite against three of the most backward-thinking budget measures this state has ever seen."