Columns from Rep. Millie Hamner, Scott Gessler, Diane Carman and Jon Caldara.

The amount of money collected by our state government in taxes and fees is directly tied to the economic health of Colorado. Because our economy is relatively strong, so is the state’s revenue stream. But rather than being able to invest in critical needs and rebuild our rainy day reserves in economic upturns, we are likely to issue hundreds of millions of dollars in TABOR refunds. By restricting the state’s ability to save and invest the revenue the state collects during strong economic times, TABOR hinders our long-term economic stability and leads to perverse outcomes, like having to dip into our education reserves to keep from cutting our schools while the economy is strong.

Here are the critical state needs at the top of my list:

1. Investing in our public schools. Our kids are Colorado’s most precious resource, and they’re depending on us. And yet when it comes to state spending on K-12 education, we’re more than $830 million short of where they would have been had we not had to cut them during the last recession, and under the current budget proposal we would fall even farther behind.

2. Fixing our roads and potholes. The Colorado Department of Transportation estimates we have a staggering $9 billion backlog in maintenance and construction to fix our overburdened infrastructure, support our growth and prosperity and increase the safety and efficiency of travel throughout the state. Interstate 25 and Interstate 70 are of special concern, but every area of the state — every county and municipality — has projects begging for attention. From safer routes to school for our kids to more mobility for our seniors, we have a lot of needs.

3. College affordability. Unfortunately, college remains out of reach for too many Coloradans. It’s simply too expensive, and our investments aren’t keeping up. We need to invest in our colleges and universities so they can keep tuition low enough that any Coloradan who has a dream of obtaining a college education can afford one.

4. Supporting our most vulnerable. We can measure the moral fiber of our society by how well we take care of our elderly, our disabled, our at-risk kids and our underprivileged. We can do a better job.

5. Protecting our forests and mountain towns. Investing in efforts to mitigate the risk of catastrophic wildfires and increase safety precautions for our firefighters will help protect our beautiful landscape, our mountain communities and the water supplies we all depend on.

The people expect us to figure this out — and soon. State Rep. Millie Hamner, DDillon, is the vice chairwoman of the Joint Budget Committee.