February 11, 2011 03:30 AM UTC

"Paygo" Tabled; Dems Promise Mini-"Paygo" Amendments

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• by: Colorado Pols

A bill we talked about on Tuesday, House Bill 1052 or the “Pay-as-you-go” bill, failed in the House Finance Committee today on a party-line 6-6 vote. It wasn’t unexpected; Committee chairman Brian DelGrosso was already on record calling the bill, which would require legislation that reduces revenue to identify offsetting cuts elsewhere, a “gimmick.”

Hoping to capitalize on the underlying goal of this legislation, which is to force specific cuts caused by revenue reducing legislation into the debate over those bills (as opposed to the final budget en masse), Democrats have promised to introduce “paygo”-style amendments to a number of individual bills–such as, to find a nice pointy example, bills reinstating tax exemptions that were repealed last year. And they could be more successful: last night, we’re told Rep. Kathleen Conti broke ranks and vote for a “paygo” amendment on a different bill in the same committee.

It’s possible the idea just sounded fiscally responsible to her, right?