Only two days ago it was speculated here that the defunding of the Auraria campus science building was a poorly considered ploy to drum up support for ballot initiatives to raise severance taxes on the oil & gas industry:

The timing of Rep. Bernie Buescher's (D-Grand Junction) announcement of the funding cut coincides with the revelation of a plan by Democratic legislators to sponsor ballot initiatives that would tax the oil & gas industry to ostensibly fund education. The Democrats seem to be planning to make these severance taxes a major plank of their 2008 platform in the state. The timing of this fiasco makes it clear that the funding for the Science Building was pulled to provide useful talking points and imagery for campaign commercials this November.

That speculation has now become reality as Bill Ritter and Bernie Buescher have revealed their plan to use, you guessed it, tax revenue from the oil & gas industry to fund construction of the building after all. The Associated Press reports:

DENVER (AP) Gov. Bill Ritter and some state lawmakers said Tuesday they want to use an estimated $30 million in oil and gas revenue to pay for construction projects at the state's colleges and universities, including a new science building on the Auraria campus.

The plan to tap into federal mineral lease payments would provide about $30 million over three years, which lawmakers could leverage to pay for an estimated $150 million worth of projects. About $60 million is needed to finish a science building. Lawmakers cut off funding for the building last week after learning that state revenue was expected to drop next year.

This entire fiasco has been confirmed to have been a stunt by the Democrats to push for increased severance taxes in 2008 to help them at the ballot box. These political games are despicable and a disservice to higher education in the state.

Rep. Cory Gardner raised the question of why the Democrats found so much room in the budget for pork projects but found the need to engage in this high-stakes standoff with Colorado's students. The Denver Post reports:

Republicans have been sharply critical of the budget outlined by Democratic leaders this week that includes adding 1,334 employees to the state's payroll. Democrats have said the new employees are necessary to address growing needs in prisons, colleges and courts, among other areas.

"There seems to be a lot of fat in this budget that could have been used to find the funding for the Auraria campus," Gardner said.

Governor Ritter and the Democrats in the state legislature are either incredibly incompetent or have engaged in an egregious breach of the public trust by defunding college campuses and then rigging the state budget to try to make the case for partisan political initiatives.

The Chancellor of CU-Denver blasted the seemingly arbitrary procedure under which the Democrat-controlled JBC pulled funding for the Auraria campus as "pure politics." 7News reports:

He held up a final capital construction priority list dated March 4, which shows the science building ranked 18th. On March 20, when the budget was cut, a new list came out that shows the science building had dropped to 31st.

Thirteen projects that had been ranked below the science building are now ahead of it. Those 13 projects represent $65 million in spending."What occured," Wilson said, "was a clear example of pure politics during decision making. None of those projects that leapfrogged the science building represented a greater need or better investment for the taxpayers of Colorado."

The verdict seems to be that this decision was politically motivated on the part of the JBC and was not necessary for the well-being of the state budget. What isn't clear is what exactly the motivations were behind this. Did Rep. Alice Madden (D) foreshadow this incident when she predicted that appointing Bruce Benson as CU President would lead to funding problems? From the Boulder Daily Camera on February 1st, 2008:

But State Rep. Alice Madden, D-Boulder, who serves as House majority leader, said Benson's past partisan politics could cripple CU. She said when she heard Benson is the only finalist being considered for the post, "I thought it was some kind of sick joke."

Benson has drawn ire from Democrats for the millions of dollars he's helped pour into political advertising against Democrats, much of it negative. For example, the Trailhead Group, of which Benson is a major donor, vigorously fought to keep state Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, from winning his seat.

Buescher is now chairman of the powerful Joint Budget Committee.

"How's he going to go ask Bernie Buescher for money?" Madden asked.

The Democrats in the state house and the members of the JBC need to come forward immediately and explain the rationale for this decision.

The Democrats, facing overwhelmingly negative response to their plans to pull funding for the science building at Auraria, have reversed plans to hold a walking tour of "ground zero." Realizing that a dusty crater may not be the best image to triumph their masterful handling of the state budget, House Democrats have shifted their walking tour to the Denver Health agency office. Instead of discussing higher education funding they will now be discussing "Colorado's kids," in the apparent hope that the media will play along and ignore the last-minute change of venues.

The Rocky Mountain News "Live From The Colorado Legislature" blog reports:

State Democratic legislators had to scrap a “Walking Tour of the State Budget” on the Auraria Campus planned for today, after $37 million for a new science building under construction was deleted from the budget last week.

As late as Friday afternoon, the House Democratic Majority press office was touting the tour, which would have taken reporters and TV camera crews by the old decrepit science building and the site of the new building where ground was broken in December with initial state funding.

But instead of the touring the science building sites about 9:30 a.m. today with Dem legislators today, Metro State President Stephen Jordan will be there holding an 11 a.m. protest press conference about the budget slashing with CU President Bruce Benson and other irate Auraria Campus honchos.

(- promoted by Rocky Mountain Right -)

The following invitation went out on Friday, the same day that news broke that Bernie Buescher had taken funds away from the Auraria campus creating a massive hole-in-the-ground.

WHAT:           Walking Tour of the State Budget  

WHO:                Joint Budget Committee leaders Rep. Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction)
and Rep. Jack Pommer (D-Boulder)
Metropolitan State College of Denver President Stephen M. Jordan, Ph.D.

WHEN:        MONDAY MORNING, March 24, 2008
               Meet promptly at 9a.m.

WHERE:        Metropolitan State Campus -- park on Lawrence Way, west of Seventh Street.

If you wanted proof that the Democrats had defunded this college in a political move to gain talking points in November, this is it.

BY ANTHONY SURACE

I chose to attend the Auraria Campus because a low-cost, commuter campus fit my lifestyle. Over the next year I will see my tuition hiked and I will not see any of my TABOR tax refunds until 2010 thanks to Referendum C. Those lost refunds were supposed to be keeping student tuition down among other broken promises.

Thankfully this is an economic burden that I will be able to work my way through, but I'm forced to wonder if many students from less fortunate backgrounds will be able to shoulder the burden of increased tuition coupled with the loss of state tax refunds. The Referendum C swindle is punishing the upwardly mobile, the lower-class working students, and commuter students in a disproportionate manner.

As an additional slap in the face, the Joint Budget Committee has pulled funding for the new Science Building at Auraria. This building was being funded in part by the state and construction had already progressed to the point of digging a massive foundation and scraping the topsoil off most of the lawns in the Northeastern part of the campus.

The timing of Rep. Bernie Buescher's (D-Grand Junction) announcement of the funding cut coincides with the revelation of a plan by Democratic legislators to sponsor ballot initiatives that would tax the oil & gas industry to ostensibly fund education. The Democrats seem to be planning to make these severance taxes a major plank of their 2008 platform in the state. The timing of this fiasco makes it clear that the funding for the Science Building was pulled to provide useful talking points and imagery for campaign commercials this November. What could be more jarring than a crater infested with asbestos where a university building should be, along with an ominous voiceover saying it will never be built unless taxes are raised and our munificent Democratic benefactors are re-elected?

As I calculate how much I will need to save in the 2008-2009 academic year to compensate for tuition hikes despite the passage of Referendum C and look out at the asbestos-ridden ditch along Speer Boulevard that used to contain a pleasant park, I cannot help but feel that college students are being used as political pawns by Colorado Democrats. It has been apparent for a while that the Democrats were willing to intentionally de-fund higher education in order to create sound bytes for campaign commercials advocating more government spending, but to literally tear the ground asunder is beyond the pale.

In closing, I appeal to the Democratic members of the state legislature and to Gov. Ritter: stop using college students as pawns in political games. It's fine to advocate for increased higher education spending as part of your platform, but to intentionally pull funding and punish students in order to gain a few sound bytes for November crosses the line.