Colorado Legislative Strategies Updates 3.11.22

COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER
 
March 11, 2022

​Today was the General Assembly’s 59th legislative day of the 2022 legislative session and we are now very close to being officially halfway through the session. Tomorrow will be the legislative version of hump-day and will be all downhill from there. However, the legislative session can be like a rollercoaster ride. 
 
So far this year we’ve been climbing up the hill. Every day we click one gear length higher as bills get introduced, committees hold hearings, and legislators debate. But with every click and clack you sense what is about to come; you realize you’re getting higher and higher. Then comes the moment when you crest over that hump.

​Your excitement and exhilaration clash with your fear and terror. You descend at a faster rate of speed than you thought was possible on the slow uphill climb. You careen forward and just before hitting the ground you shoot back up again, and then go left and right and all around. While the legislative session might not be quite that exciting, there are still a lot of twists and turns before the session adjourns. 
 
First and foremost for this session, the legislature still needs to spend billions of dollars in federal stimulus, lest we would have to give it back to the Treasury. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was coincidentally signed into law one year ago today. On March 18, 2021 Colorado received its allocation of money - approximately $3.8 billion dollars. The state can use this money for costs incurred from March 3, 2021 through December 31, 2024. A cost is considered to be incurred if the state has an obligation for the cost by December 31, 2024. Obligations must be expended by December 31, 2026.
 
At the end of the 2021 legislative session, the General Assembly transferred the full $3.8 billion into several cash funds for different purposes and spent a little more than $1.2 billion, leaving over $2.5 billion available for future legislative appropriation. 
 
This week bills finally started to get introduced from the task forces that were set up to make recommendations about how to spend the money. As a reminder, there was the Affordable Housing Task Force, the Behavioral Health Task Force, and the Economic Recovery Task Force. Let’s just say that the force was not with these groups throughout their numerous meetings, but the Affordable Housing and Behavioral Health Task Forces did manage to put together a set of vetted spending recommendations. 
 
There will be around 15 bills introduced this session from task force recommendations, but less than half were introduced this week. Here’s a rundown of what’s been introduced so far:
 
House Bill 1282 - Allocates $40 million to encourage and support the construction of innovative forms of affordable housing in Colorado, including modular, prefabricated, and manufactured homes.
 
Senate Bill 146 - Allocates $25 million to the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority’s middle-income access program, which aims to help families and people who make too much money to qualify for housing funded by low-income housing tax credits. 
 
House Bill 1243 - Allocates a total of $14 million, including $6 million to a grant program aimed at helping improve security at public schools. Another $2 million would go toward helping public schools increase the number of people providing substance abuse and behavioral health care to students. Finally, the bill would extend by two years a program that reimburses mental health counselors for providing up to three mental health sessions to kids screened into the program.
 
House Bill 1281 - Local governments and nonprofits could apply for $90 million in grants to create community-based behavioral health programs, especially those aimed at children and families. 
 
House Bill 1283 - Dedicates $54 million to expanding intensive residential and outpatient behavioral health care for young people and their families. The money would also go toward building and staffing a neuropsych facility at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan.
 
Senate Bill 147 - Addresses youth suicide by spending $11 million, including to create the Colorado pediatric psychiatry consultation and access program at the University of Colorado. The program would strive to help pediatricians identify and treat mental health issues in their patients. Some of the money would be used to expand school-based health care, primarily in low-income parts of the state.
 
Senate Bill 148 - Allocates $5 million to make a grant to one or more Native American tribes in Colorado for the development of a behavioral health facility. 
 
Final reports with all recommendations can be found here:

• Affordable Housing Task Force
• Behavioral Health Task Force
• Economic Recovery Task Force

 
In addition to spending the federal stimulus money, the other big thing left for the session is the state budget, also known as the Long Bill. The Joint Budget Committee is working their way through figure setting for each department and agency. This is where the JBC makes all of the funding decisions for every budget request. So far the JBC has punted on several items and they will need to circle back before closing out the budget. 
 
The budget will be introduced in the House on Monday, March 28. The JBC has a goal of finishing their work by March 18, but with so many big decisions items to revisit it will likely be closer to March 24 before the JBC officially closes next year’s budget. It’s then a few week process for the Long Bill to go through the House, Senate, and conference committee. The annual process is largely the same every year. 
 
A big factor for the budget is the March Economic and Revenue Forecast, the last quarterly forecast before the budget is finalized. Next Thursday, on March 17, the legislature’s economists and executive branch’s economists will present on the current state of the economy and how much money the state has to spend (and save for future TABOR refunds). Stay tuned for news next week about all of that. 
 
You might be thinking all of that sounds like a lot but doesn’t sound too bad. Enter all of the other bills, including the really bad ones. In addition to deciding how to spend federal money and passing a new budget, the legislature still has to work through all of the bills that have been introduced and all of the late bills that are still yet to come. 
 
Examples of controversial bills that are currently pending their first hearing include:
 
House Bill 1244 - This bill seeks to create a new program to regulate toxic air contaminants, but the problem is that it is probably not feasible to do and will cost way too much money. This bill has already been pulled off the calendar and is not currently scheduled for a committee hearing. 
 
House Bill 1277 - This bill seeks to allow taxpayer dollars to be held and profited from by non-tax paying entities. In addition to reducing state tax revenue, the change could also negatively impact money available for small business and agriculture loans. The bill will be heard in the House Business Affairs committee on March 24.
 
House Bill 1287 - This bill seeks to impose statewide rent control on the mobile home industry. This drastic change would have the opposite effect of helping affordability as businesses providing affordable housing flee the state. The bill will be heard in the House Local Government committee on March 23. 
 
Beware of House Bills with high numbers…
 
Another high numbered House Bill caused a stir this week. House Bill 1279 will codify reproductive rights under state law. For Republicans, the Democrats passing a pro-abortion bill represents the part of the rollercoaster when they are completely upside down and screaming as hard as they can. 
 
On Wednesday the bill was up in committee and it brought out a lot of witness testimony. After over 14 hours of testimony, the committee finally passed the bill on a party-line vote at nearly 4 am. 
 
On Friday, it was the House Republicans' turn to make their voice heard. At the time of publication on Friday evening the debate had been going since the morning and looked to go deep into Friday night as they make speech after speech and offer amendment after amendment. This is another example of the majority getting their way, but the minority making sure they get their say. 
 
Finally, some good news and some not so good news for this weekend. First the good news, St. Patrick’s Day is next week. But because it’s St. Patrick’s Day, the holiday is really celebrated on the Saturday before. So tomorrow, for the first time since 2019, the Denver St. Patrick’s Day parade is back! The festivities start early and often get rowdy with 300,000 to 400,000 people usually attending. 
 
The not so good news is that this weekend we all lose an hour of sleep as the time shifts forward into Daylight Saving Time. Even though there is a bill under consideration to move to year-round Standard Time, and there could be something coming that would move to year-round Daylight Saving Time if Congress ever approves, you still have to lose sleep and change your clocks this year. 
 
Have a good (shorter) weekend.