A panel of state lawmakers at the State Capitol today threw cold water on a proposal to have the state take over social services now run by county governments in Colorado. The action by the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee effectively derailed an earlier recommendation from a panel appointed by Gov. Bill Ritter.

“The state is in no position to take over these programs now,” said  Sen. Moe Keller, D-Wheat Ridge. “We’re having difficulty maintaining what we have much less take up what’s at the county level.”

The Child Welfare Action Committee–created by Ritter in April of 2008 to assess human services and child welfare in the wake of headline-making child-abuse cases–concluded in a report to the governor in September that a state administrative takeover is ultimately the best course of action.

Speaking in response to the committee’s recommendation at the time, Ritter told The Denver Post, “It’s a bold move, but it’s exactly the kinds of things we put this committee in place to do.”

Yet, legislators had, at best, a more measured response when the issue was raised in a Colorado Department of Human Services briefing to the budget committee.

“I know there’s going to be a lot of pushback from this idea because of how the system’s been run … but there’s a lot of problems in this system and how it works, and I think we shouldn’t off hand just throw out the idea,” said Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver.

Keller, the JBC chair, didn’t disagree but added her concerns about the timing of such a move.

“I think the counties and the state ought to continue to have this discussion and maybe there’ll be a different alternative or a combination thereof that comes forward with time,” said Keller.

JBC Co-Chair Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, went further.

“I just think it’s unrealistic for us to take it over,” Pommer said. “Unless we had a really good plan, I think people would be legitimate in saying, ‘Why would you run it better?’.”

It was unclear at the committee hearing whether or not the counties would be on board with a state takeover, prompting Keller to say it was her understanding, prior to the recommendation, that counties welcomed such a move. Now, however, she said she is hearing, “Don’t you dare touch our programs,” from the counties.

Reached later for comment, Colorado Counties Inc. Legislative Affairs Director John Taylor, who organzation lobbies on behalf of the state’s 64 counties at the General Assembly, acknowledged that a number of counties are pushing back at the proposal.

“I think we’re missing a step here … It’s too broad an assumption that we’re going to fix human services by handing it over to the state,” Taylor said.