Lawmakers Can't Find Money For Nat'l Guard Tuition

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(AP) DENVER Lawmakers can't find money to help pay for college and life insurance for Colorado National Guard soldiers who had to leave their families and jobs to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Legislators acknowledged Wednesday that as the session winds down, they are having trouble finding the money without cutting other programs or violating the state's spending restrictions.

Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, wants National Guard members and their families made eligible for in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities and for the $2,670 stipends in-state students will get next year. That's expected to help 34 members and their relatives at a cost of $90,780.

But the problem is that the state's budget is only allowed to grow by 6 percent a year and this year's $17.8 billion budget is already hitting that ceiling. Spending a dollar more would require cutting a dollar somewhere else.

http://cbs4denver.com/local/local_story_102083927.html

[leftofthedial]

1. all these frigging faux-libertarian bullshit tax laws

piss me off

we elect representatives for a reason