MONTROSE – As Colorado lawmakers struggled last week to balance the state’s $18.9 billion budget, the prospect of further bloodletting raised an outcry from the state’s higher education community, which was facing more than $400 million in additional funding cuts.

Counter protesters were also on hand at the Capitol Monday to cry foul over the Colorado Senate’s approval of SB-273 and SB-281, bills that would allow lawmakers to raid the surplus built up by Pinnacol Assurance to the tune of $500 million. Pinnacol Assurance is the tax-free insurer created by the state in 1915, and has a current surplus of $700 million.

If the raid is approved by the Colorado House, the funds will be used to shore up the state’s cash-strapped higher education system – for now.

At Mesa State College, which is based in Grand Junction but maintains a satellite campus in Montrose, administrators have been watching the political wrangling in Denver with a wary eye. Of the roughly 6,200 students attending Mesa State, 388 live in Montrose County.

“Obviously, we have been cutting our budget in anticipation, and looking at areas where we can consolidate services,” said Dana Nunn, Mesa State’s director of media relations. “At this point, we are not looking to cut programs for budgetary reasons. But the reality is, we are committed to offering both quality programming and accessibility.

“At some point, if we are going to continue to offer a quality education, we will have to look at revenues,” Nunn said, “but part of accessibility is affordability. It can be hard to strike a balance.”

While short-term solutions may not offer a long-term fix, the crisis facing the state’s schools required immediate action, noted state Senator Jim Isgar (D-Hesperus), who supported SB-273 and SB-281.

“Our goal is to prevent cuts to higher education this year,” Isgar said. “If funding were to get cut by half, all of our small state colleges – both four-year and community – would be at risk.”

Without the funds from Pinnacol Assurance, it has been estimated that at least nine of Colorado’s community colleges would be forced to close their doors.

Although Colorado State University is located in Fort Collins, rural areas across the state depend on the services provided by the university’s outreach and extension offices. Last week, Interim CSU President Tony Frank addressed the draconian funding cuts proposed by the state’s Joint Budget Committee.

“What does a $400 million cut to higher education look like?” Frank asked. “Quite simply, it would mean fewer choices and increased costs for Colorado families. Our now diverse system of state schools could not withstand such cuts without becoming significantly more expensive, and some schools within Colorado would likely find it difficult to survive.”

One-time solutions such as raiding one state fund to shore up another do nothing to alleviate the crisis over the long term, he warned, although he expressed a sense of optimism for the future of higher education in Colorado.

“Crises often lead us to examine our priorities and explore innovative solutions,” Frank said. “Colorado now has an opportunity to recreate the stable platform of funding that has underpinned American public higher education since its inception. This platform is composed of three, essential components: cost containment, reasonable tuition and broad access to educational opportunity made possible through sustainable state support.”

According to a news release prepared by the office of Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Monday, massive funding cuts to higher education are no longer an acceptable option in any case, because the cuts would cause Colorado to forfeit $760 million in federal funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Ritter promised that higher education funding in Colorado would remain at the fiscal year 2008/2009 level of $706 million not only for this budget year, but for the next two as well, with the help of Federal Stabilization Funding from the Recovery Act.

According to Ritter’s office, Mesa State College will receive $24,005,607 in state funding this fiscal year, while Western State College in Gunnison will receive $12,173,017, and Fort Lewis College of Durango will receive $12,736,330. Adams State College in Alamosa will receive $14,608,449. Community colleges across the state will receive $142,320,783, and area vocational schools will receive a total of $11,202,546.

Late Wednesday morning at press deadline, legislative leaders announced that they will balance the budget without funds from Pinnacle while continuing to peruse a long-term plan. Details of $300 million in an additional budget balancing measure will be released this morning but legislative leaders echoed Gov. Ritter’s message that there will be no additional cuts to higher education.