The early releases, initially projected to save the state budget $19 million, are now likely to net closer to $5 million in savings, according to Ritter administration spokesman Evan Dreyer.

Shortly after the program’s announcement last August, the initiative drew a flurry of attention from the media as well as criticism from some minority Republicans in the legislature who raised concerns about public safety. That was followed by media accounts in October indicating far fewer inmates were deemed appropriate for early release than had been anticipated—meaning scaled-back savings–and that some of those who were being released had extensive and even violent criminal histories.

Dreyer defended the program at the time as “good public policy and good fiscal policy.” However, David Michaud, Chair of the Colorado State Board of Parole, had told the Denver Post that public safety was his primary concern, trumping the budget concerns.

“I’m not going to let someone out early if I don’t think it’s safe,” Michaud said in an Oct. 15 Post report. “I don’t care how much money they save or don’t save.”

The parole board has so far granted early release to a total of 235 prisoners as of Dec. 15.  Michaud said today that no prisoners have been released who have committed serious crimes.

“There are no sex-offenders, class 1 or class 2 felonies,” Michaud said, adding that among the possible offenses committed by the prisoners released early, “there could be a variety of charges from drugs to auto-theft to forgeries.” Michaud said he stands by the effort.

Yet, Berthoud Republican Sen. Kevin Lundberg, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the administration’s entire approach was off-track from the outset.

“It’s the wrong place to look (for savings),” Lundberg said . “We set those laws (sentencing) in place for a purpose and this is short-circuiting that purpose.”

Lundberg cited a list of spending cuts elsewhere in state government that legislative Republicans unsuccessfully proposed during last spring’s budget debate.

“Now we’re looking at areas that we shouldn’t be looking in,” he said.

Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti could provide no specific figures this week for overall savings to date. Sanguinetti said beginning in January, the corrections department will publish a monthly report tabulating the savings.

The Colorado State Titling and Registration System , or CSTARS, is a statewide system to coordinate vehicle registration and titling between county clerks, who make the transactions with people titling and registering their newly acquired vehicles, and the state.  A fee of $7.20, charged when the vehicle is titled, goes to the system. It’s now not enough, lawmakers were told, and there’s a projected negative balance of $1.5 million by the year after next.

The decline in fee-revenue is being attributed to fewer vehicles being titled in Colorado as a result of the recession, according to Joint Budget Committee staffer David Meng. Meng projected that there will need to be a fee increase or a change in the administration of the program to bridge the funding gap.

The potential for a title-fee increase–on the heels of a $250 million-a-year increase in auto-registration fees, passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Bill Ritter last spring–got the attention of at least one Joint Budget Committee member sitting on the powerful budget-writing panel.

“Is there room to lower somehow, the expenditures, to keep it in balance — rather than looking at the fee side?”  asked Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver.

“I suspect that will be part of what their (the Department of Revenue) plan is,” Meng said.

CSTARS was implemented in 2007 amid some significant kinks in the system that were later resolved.

At least one member of the legislature who isn’t on the budget committee said CSTARS needs some retooling. Sen.Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, noted that CSTARS is not working well for lenders who often have to wait months before a title is processed on vehicles that have been long since driven off the lot by customers at Colorado dealerships.

Harvey said he is working on legislation to improve the system and address the problems lenders are experiencing, but he said he wants to avoid a fee increase altogether.

“My bill will fix or replace a system that is broken without having to raise fees or taxes,” he said, noting that the measure’s funding would come from gifts, grants and donations.  “Consumers, auto dealers, and the lending community will all benefit from this bill”.

A bill that would have raised the registration fee by 60 cents was introduced during the 2009 legislative session but was not adopted.

At the heart of the effort is a certificate program that measures a potential employee’s basic skills in applied math, locating information and reading—through testing—with a the governor’s autograph on a diploma issued by the program.

“This is the worst economy since the Great Depression,” Ritter told a small crowd gathered at the Jefferson County Human Services Building, west of Denver. “We’re focused on creating and retaining jobs and getting people back to work, ushering businesses through this downturn.”

A legislative leader was on hand to give the agenda a boost.

“Our goal is to create a 21^st century workforce and to create jobs,” said Colorado Senate President Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, who joined Ritter at the event. “We are interested in specifics—things we can do today, during Colorado’s tough economic times.”

The pending legislation, backed by the governor and enthusiastically supported by Shaffer and his caucus, will be introduced in January proposing education and training for employees. Included in the package will be a provision similar to college savings plans, incentives for health care workers to work in rural areas and a nurse-training loan forgiveness program.

Today’s announcement by the Democratic governor was met with skepticism by legislative Republicans.

“Unfortunately, the governor seems to be more focused on job training programs than proposals to get Coloradans back to work,” said House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker. “If Gov. Ritter wants to get Coloradans back to work, he (should) repeal his onerous tax and fee increases, scale back his damaging oil and gas rules, and rethink the way government does business.