A simmering feud between Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler and the Joint Budget Committee erupted again this week over letters from Gessler accusing lawmakers of “political posturing.”
But two members of the JBC — Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, and Rep. Cheri Gerou, R-Evergreen — said the Republican secretary of state is the one playing political games.
“I’m disgusted, totally disgusted by the tone, the rudeness, calling us liars,” Gerou said Thursday. “He doesn’t sound like a governor.”
Gessler, one of six Republicans running for the GOP nomination for governor, sent one letter to the JBC, the other to firms that do business with the secretary of state.
Gessler spokesman Rich Coolidge said Thursday that because of “falsehoods about our budget, we had to give our customers the facts.”
Gessler showed up before the JBC on Thursday asking to speak to members, just to “clear the record,” Coolidge said. But Rep. Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, chair of the budget committee, turned him away, saying other matters were on the agenda and they needed to give notice to the public.
On Monday, Gessler wrote a three-page letter to the six members of the JBC, outlining his frustrations.
“You refused to allow me to present my budget, even though statements made at the hearing were factually and historically wrong,” Gessler wrote to the JBC. “Instead, several members preferred personal insults over rational discussion.”
Gessler’s office maintains Steadman referred to him as a “pig” during a hearing, saying he didn’t need the secretary of state to be present because when you “wrestle with a pig, you get dirty.”
On Tuesday, Gessler wrote to firms that do business with the secretary of state, saying in an e-mail: “By now, many of you have heard wild accusations, insults and downright fabrications about the Secretary of State’s office budget.”
“I will vigorously fight any attempts to force fee increases for businesses, nonprofits, charities, notaries public or bingo and raffle filers,” he said.
Some lawmakers say the filing fee holiday Gessler instituted while proceeding with various projects created his budget problems, but Gessler has repeatedly pointed to a Democratic-backed elections bill passed last year over his objections.
“It’s blown our budget out of the water,” Gessler told lawmakers at a Dec. 19 oversight hearing.
Gessler initiated the fee holiday to comply with a state law limiting the amount of reserves. Gessler had $7 million — $4.25 million more than allowed. The elections bill was introduced after the holiday.
Although Gessler initially said he might need a transfusion from the legislature, he made it clear in both letters he would be able to balance his budget.
“There’s a lot of spin going on here,” Steadman said. “I think somebody’s trying to salvage their campaign.”
Said Coolidge: “They’re attacking the secretary as a candidate when they should be focused on what we’re proposing for our budget.”
