Colorado Public Radio’s Tom Hesse profiles Barbara Kirkmeyer’s budget-centered pitch in the Republican governor’s race, and it is the kind of message that almost sounds strange now because it is so adult. Kirkmeyer is one of two Republicans on the Joint Budget Committee, a former Weld County commissioner, and she is arguing that Colorado’s billion-dollar budget problems are not a mystery. The state spends too much, promises too much, and then acts like math is being rude.
Kirkmeyer told CPR the state has a “crisis of priorities,” not a revenue problem. She blames one-party Democratic control for creating new offices, making long-term commitments, and turning temporary spending into permanent obligations. That is not flashy. It also happens to be governing.
I know Barb. She is my friend. So let me be plain about my bias and my opinion: she is a proven budget hawk, and she is exactly who Colorado needs right now. Not because budgets are exciting. They are not. Budgets are where campaign slogans go to either grow up or die in committee.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Kirkmeyer is making the most adult pitch in politics: the state is short money, the promises are too fat, and somebody has to say no. That will not fit on a bumper sticker unless the bumper belongs to a Suburban, but it is the job.
- She says CDOT has mismanaged money and “parked” unused project dollars instead of putting enough money into roads, safety, and added capacity. A pothole does not care how many planners admired the multimodal vision board. It is still eating your alignment.
- She told CPR a governor can stop some spending directly, including a hiring freeze, no out-of-state travel, no new vehicles, and targeted 5% to 10% cuts in personal services and operating lines depending on the department. That is when budget talk gets real and the lobbyists start making wounded-animal noises.
- Kirkmeyer also points to more than $3 billion in state fees, arguing that some of them are really taxes wearing a fake mustache. Anyone who has registered a vehicle lately already knows this. The receipt looks like it was assembled by raccoons with a spending addiction.
- She is also honest that the Republican brand is damaged by infighting and a focus on issues that are not top priorities for unaffiliated voters. Translation: the circus wagon has been blocking the road, and she is trying to talk about the engine.
My Bottom Line
A real budget hawk message should not be treated like a campaign gimmick. Fiscal sanity is the job. Colorado families have to balance actual budgets. Counties have to balance actual budgets. Small businesses have to balance actual budgets. Meanwhile, Denver plays shell games, mandates services, invents offices, stacks fees, blames TABOR, blames voters, blames the economy, blames the clouds, then acts shocked when the math starts biting.
That is why Barb’s message matters. She is not just saying “cut spending” because it sounds good in a Republican primary. She has been in the room. She has served on the Joint Budget Committee. She spent 20 years as a Weld County commissioner, helped lead the county to zero debt, balanced budgets, and lowered the mill levy. That is not theory. That is receipts.
And yes, Republicans need to hear this too. You do not get to chant about freedom, hate every tax, and then demand every program stay funded because your favorite group likes it. That is not conservatism. That is dessert-table economics. Conservative government means priorities. It means saying no. It means protecting core services and cutting the stuff that only survives because some lobbyist named Brad knows which hallway to haunt.
The test for Barb, and for every candidate who claims to care about spending, is whether the specifics keep coming. What gets cut? What gets protected? Which fees are really taxes? Which offices are decorative? Which sacred cows get taken off the feedlot? Budget hawk is easy to say. Barb has actually lived it.
Colorado needs a grown-up. Not more grievance theater. Not more noise. Not another carnival ride with a flag sticker. A grown-up who understands that government does not own the taxpayer. The taxpayer funds the government, and the government had better remember whose money it is.
That is why I support Barb Kirkmeyer’s budget pitch. It is serious. It is grounded. It is needed. And in a Republican primary that too often rewards the loudest circus wagon, it may also be the rarest thing in politics: an actual plan to govern.
Source: Colorado Public Radio
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