Capitol Tweets about budget

DENVER — This year’s 250-page state budget was written 140 characters at a time.

Like no other year, Twitter, an Internet service that lets users post their thoughts in 140-character bursts, became a part of the debate over the nearly $20 billion spending plan.

Although often ridiculed as trivial, Twitter, which just celebrated its sixth birthday, has become an integral part of the dynamics inside the state Capitol.

“There’s no question in the Capitol in 2012, there are almost two parallel conversations occurring: the conversation that happens on the floor or around the committee table, and the conversation that’s happening in the Twittersphere,” said Scott Wassermann, executive director of Colorado WINS, the state employee union.

News reporters often “live-tweet” meetings, and four of them were keeping tabs on the Joint Budget Committee on Wednesday evening, just as the three Democrats and three Republicans were butting heads over whether to cut the state payroll.

Democrats refused to go forward with any votes on the budget until the committee reversed a decision it made earlier this year — when less money was available — to cut the payroll by 2 percent. Gov. John Hickenlooper warned the cut could lead to hundreds of layoffs.

The committee deadlocked on a series of 3-3 votes. And that’s where the Capitol’s Twitterers got involved.

Colorado WINS fired the first shot, tweeting “State has $200 million in additional revenue. Why lay off workers? Hurts CO economy.”

Then the House Republican press office fired back, accusing Democrats on the JBC of “trying to balance budget on back of Colorado’s neediest seniors and student(s).”

It brought a swift reply from the Democratic press office: “that’s a false choice and you know it, why do you want to fire state troopers in the face of $100 Million in extra funds?”

Pretty soon, Speaker of the House Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, and House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, joined in the fray, along with the political campaign arms of each party in the House.

The tweets provided a direct conduit to the JBC members, who watched the whole show unfold on their iPads, laptop computers and smartphones.

JBC members interviewed for the story said the Twitter fight, and a sequel on Thursday, were at most an amusing distraction.

“More than anything, it probably provided entertainment for some of the members,” said the panel’s chairwoman, Rep. Cheri Geou, R-Evergreen. “I don’t think it made a difference in the outcome.”

The committee reached a breakthrough Thursday, agreeing to a more modest cut that everyone agrees will not lead to layoffs.

The result unfolded in a much different way than last year’s budget, when the final details were hashed out behind closed doors. This year’s final negotiations happened in open meetings and live on multiple Twitter feeds.

JBC member Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, started using Twitter in earnest this year to keep tabs on happenings in the Capitol while he was tied down in long meetings.

“It’s been invaluable, entertaining and sometimes distracting,” Steadman said.

Wednesday night was different.

“The Twitter war that broke out Wednesday night I thought was pretty ugly. I’ve never seen that kind of rock-throwing,” Steadman said.

Participants in the Wednesday night fight said Twitter gave them a way to make their voices heard.

“It’s a way to get your message across and your points out quickly,” Ferrandino said. “Unfortunately, it does not add to a constructive dialogue.”

McNulty said he joked with Ferrandino that they should have just negotiated the whole budget over Twitter.

“We’re moving into this era of communications where the public wants to know what’s happening when it’s happening,” McNulty said. “The important thing is to make sure your party’s public policy priorities are out there.”



Reach Joe Hanel at joeh@cortezjournal.com or Twitter @joehanel.