JANE NORTON SPEAKS! UNDER FIRE FROM RIGHT AND LEFT FOR RUNAWAY GOVERNMENT SPENDING, NORTON STILL HIDES THE TRUTH ABOUT HER PIGGY BANK BREAKING SPENDING HABITS
As Executive Director Of CDPHE, Spending Went Up Every Single Year
Jane Norton finally broke her silence on her spending record yesterday to KDVR in Denver, but she failed to tell Coloradans the full truth about her piggy bank-breaking, big spending habits. The truth is, Jane Norton presided over out of control spending during her time at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and as Lieutenant Governor. As executive director at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Norton increased the budget by over $55 million, with $10 million of the increase coming directly from taxpayers. During her time as Lieutenant Governor, Norton increased spending by over $10,000, including bilking taxpayers for $7,000 in reimbursements for travel, flowers, and meals and spending $2,000 on a new office desk. An independent anti-government waste group called Norton’s spending increases “unnecessary and wasteful.”
“How do you spell hypocrite? J-A-N-E-N-O-R-T-ON,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “Jane Norton has been traveling around Colorado blasting Democrats for overspending, but she apparently fails to look in the mirror each morning. During her time in public office, Norton increased budgets at the expense of Colorado taxpayers and spent money left and right, including spending thousands on flowers and meals. Norton should know that those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
In the past several months alone, Norton has come under repeated fire for her remarks. First, she raised eyebrows after telling a Tea Party crowd in Alamosa that the solution to fixing America’s education system is to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. Then, she showered praise on both the TEA party movement and Glenn Beck’s 9/12 groups, calling both groups a “huge strength” for the Republican Party. Next, Norton sat silently at a meet and greet at a coffee shop while a woman repeatedly called President Obama a Muslim. Finally, in response to an unrelated question in front of the Jefferson County Men’s Club, Norton told the audience that President Obama cares more about protecting the rights of terrorists than protecting the American people. Norton refused to back down from her terrorist claim, telling a Weld County audience several days later once again that President Obama’s Administration cares more about protecting the rights of terrorists that the lives of American citizens.
KDVR: Exclusive: Senate candidate Jane Norton defends record on spending
Eli Stokols
March 9, 2010
DENVER - There is no issue that riles up today's conservative base like the issue of government spending, perceived to be out of control after last year's $787 billion American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and on the verge of a health care reform bill that, if passed, could cost close to $1 trillion over the next decade.
In such a context, it's no surprise that Republican candidates are talking, on the eve of this fall's midterm elections, about how Democrats have overspent and how they will, if elected, rein in such expenditures.
It's also no surprise that Jane Norton, a Republican running for U.S. Senate in Colorado, is already airing television commercials to that effect.
And given that Norton may be the front-runner in the race, out in front of both Democratic contenders and the two Republicans challenging her for the party's nomination, it's no surprise that her record on spending is coming under heavy scrutiny -- and heavy fire -- from both sides.
Norton, who has also been criticized of late for avoiding the mainstream media's attention, spoke to FOX31 last week about her conservative record.
"It's fashionable right now to talk about being a fiscal conservative and talk about limited government," said Norton, who, under former Gov. Bill Owens, served as director of Colorado's Dept. of Public Health and Environment and later as Lieutenant Governor.
"The fact of the matter is I did cut budgets and my general fund was less. The general fund allotment I had when I left the department of Public Health was less when I left than when I started, about $6.4 million less."
The Democrats and Republicans parsing Norton's spending record from her tenure at CDPHE accept that the department's annual general fund appropriation did wind up being 28 percent less in her final year as director than it was in her first.
But, they also point out what Norton does not -- that money from the state's general fund is but one piece of the department's budget, which also includes money from cash funds and the federal government.
"She didn't say in her ad that her general fund went down," said Bobby Clark, executive director of ProgressNow Action, a Denver-based, liberal organizing group.
"She said she cut spending -- and it's just not true. Spending -- her department budget went up every year."
During Norton's tenure at CDPHE, the department's overall budget did rise from $226.5 million in fiscal year 1999-2000 to a high of $280 million three years later, before the post- 9/11 recession led to across-the-board cuts and slight drop in the department's overall 2002-03 budget, which was $269.5 million.
"A budget going up every year doesn't equate to cutting spending," Clark said. "Jane Norton saying she cut spending is like Sarah Palin saying she could see Russia from her house. It's disingenuous and it's just not true."
But, in Norton's view, she only had control over the money her department received from the state.
"In the budget, you have federal funds, cash funds and general funds -- and general funds are what the executive director actually has control over," Norton said.
Asked to explain why her general fund allotment increased 36 percent from $23.7 million in fiscal year 1999-2000 to $32.4 million in 2000-01, Norton pointed to the legislature's decision to consolidate three youth programs in CDPHE, adding $8.7 million to the department's general fund appropriation.
"You can't take credit for the drop in funding and then blame the spike on the legislature," said Carol Hedges, a senior policy analyst at the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute.
"Ultimately, the director submits a budget and the legislature approves it," Hedges said. "So you could argue the legislature is responsible for all increases and decreases in general fund spending. And, if you want to say the director is responsible, they'd be equally responsible for cash fund increases and decreases. It's not only the general fund money they oversee."
Democrats aren't the only ones scrutinizing Norton's record.
"Jane is a wonderful person, but not a fiscal conservative," said former state senator Tom Wiens, who is challenging Norton to be the GOP's U.S. Senate candidate come fall. "We have to have real fiscal conservatives elected to the U.S. Senate," he said. "If you're going to use these numbers from your budget, you have to use the real numbers. You can't make them up. We can't have this kind of thinking where you claim to cut your budget and you don't; and you claim to not raise taxes, and you did."
In Wiens's view, Norton's support for Referendum C in 2006 was, in effect, support for a tax increase, even if it was voter-approved. The measure, which passed with 52 percent of the vote, allowed the state to keep any extra revenue above what's needed to balance the budget for five years, instead of returning that surplus to taxpayers as TABOR ordinarily mandates.
"Referendum C is actually the Taxpayers Bill of Rights in action," Norton said. "TABOR allows for people to vote. And in this case, it was: do you want your tax refund to go -- it was a five-year time out, and 52 percent of the people said yes, we will forgo our tax refund to help pay for essential services."
Wiens, who was in the legislature when Referendum C was drawn up, has a different view.
"No matter how you look at it, Ref C took more money away from taxpayers and gave it to the government, and it raised taxes as a result," he said. Norton is glad to run on Owens's record -- even in a year when the conservative base has little appetite for moderates.
"Bill Owens has a record, and our administration, of cutting taxes 43 times, 30 of them permanently," Norton said. "But I'm a supporter of TABOR. I don't think government should grow any faster than the private sector."
Norton being targeted by Democrats and Republicans alike indicates that both sides view her as the front-runner in the race. But even with the National Republican Senatorial Committee behind her, she's got the difficult task of defining herself to voters before her opponents can -- not just defining who she is, or who she wants to be in the Senate, but who she's been.
And with Colorado voters still confusing her with other Nortons -- former Interior Secretary Gail Norton, or UNC President Kay Norton, among others -- her ability to do so could go a long way in determining how far she goes as a candidate.
"She's not a known commodity and she doesn't have a deep reservoir of passionate support," said Eric Sondermann, a Denver-based political analyst.
"So if somebody uncovers something, if some particular line of attack really gains traction, there's not a deep base out there -- it strikes me as a wide base, but a shallow base -- there's not a deep base that's going to rescue her if something really comes out here."
Norton’s Budgets at Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Increased By Over $55 Million, With $10 Million Increase Coming Directly From Taxpayers. During her tenure as executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment from 1999 to 2002, Norton oversaw an increase in the department budget of $55,921,439, with federal funding increasing by only $2,430,333. Consequently, an increase of $10,036,332 came directly from taxpayers’ funds through the general fund. [Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Budget and Supplemental Budget Bills for FY 98-99 through FY 01-02, obtained via Colorado Open Records Act Request]
Norton Increased Spending At Lieutenant Governor’s Office By Over $10,000. From the 2003-2004 fiscal year to the 2005-2006 fiscal year, Norton increased the budget of her department by $10,588 planned for in state budgets. According to state budget records, the budget for the Lieutenant Governor’s office was $270,402 in FY 2003-2004. The budget for the Lieutenant Governor’s office increased to $280,990 in FY 2005-2006. [Governor-Lieutenant Governor – State Planning and Budgeting, Fiscal Years 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006]
- Norton’s Expenditures As Lieutenant Governor Revealed Lavish Spending. During her time as Lieutenant Governor, Norton wasted taxpayer dollars on numerous expenditures, including a $2,000 desk, nearly $1,000 on phones and blackberry units, and $1,500 on plane travel. [State of Colorado, Financial Reporting System, Expenditures of the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, FY 2004 and 2005]
- Norton Bilked Taxpayers for Nearly $7,000 in Reimbursements For Travel, Flowers and Meals. During her time as Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Norton requested and received reimbursements for $6,805.53. The items reimbursed included in-state and out-of-state travel, flowers and meals. [Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Expenditure Reimbursements for Jane E. Norton, obtained via Colorado Open Records Act Request]
- Anti-Government Waste Group Cited Norton’s Lieutenant Governor Office as “Unnecessary and Wasteful,” Waste of Nearly $300,000 Taxpayer Funds. In 2005, the Independence Institute, a think tank based in Golden, identified Norton’s LG office as an example of government waste in a draft report the group posted online by mistake. The “Piglet Report,” at www.taxincrease.org, warned voters against ballot measures Referendum C and Referendum D. The report called the lieutenant governor’s office and its $280,990 budget “unnecessary and wasteful.” Jon Caldara, the institute’s president, said the job “is basically to wake up in the morning, call the governor and make sure he’s alive.” A spokeswoman for Norton took exception to that. Sue Smith, the spokeswoman, noted Norton’s work on homeland security, education, a state adoption initiative and Indian affairs, among others. [Rocky Mountain News, 7/08/05]
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