Colorado Legislative Strategies Updates 4.1.22

​COLORADO LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES NEWSLETTER
 
April 1, 2022
 
Big news today! Rumors are currently swirling around the Capitol that legislative leaders plan to call for an end to the session once the budget is passed and signed into law. The surprising news began leaking after midnight and could mean the legislature adjourns with roughly a month left on the clock. Word is that leaders in both chambers and the Governor’s office know they pass whatever they want within a few days at the very end of the session so why not just do it all next week and get out of there. Many legislators are expected to hit the campaign trail immediately and the Governor, completely unworried about his election, is expected to take time to focus on putting together his offer to buy the Denver Broncos. Happy to report all of this exciting news from today. Also… Happy April Fools Day!

​In real news, today was the General Assembly’s 80th legislative day so it’s just 40 days and 40 nights remaining of the wrath of legislators until we can reach the promised land. While the session won’t actually end right after the budget passes, things really pick up speed after the budget and the end of the session will be here before you know it. 
 
This week was budget week in the House. The package of budget bills (House Bills 1329 through 1343) were introduced on Monday and passed out of the House on Thursday. Let’s dive into some specifics about what all is included in the budget. 
 
First, the budget is big and growing at a fast pace. The fiscal year 2022-23 state budget is the largest ever at roughly $36 billion, which is $2 billion larger than the last budget, and that budget was $4 billion larger than the prior year’s budget. Plus, the overall budget number doesn’t even include billions in federal stimulus dollars that the state is also distributing this year.  
 
And speaking of growing, this year’s budget includes over 800 new positions in the state government. The budget also grew the emergency reserve  by double to roughly $2 billion. And general fund spending is up to nearly $14 billion, a 12.7 percent increase. 
 
More money is also going towards education. Higher education spending will increase by roughly $129 million plus $60 million for special programs for low income students and $24 million for financial aid, which is a 4.3 percent increase from last year. K-12 education will rise to $7.2 billion, an 11.7 percent increase from last year. Including the local property tax revenue, the total base spending for K-12 is estimated to be $8.4 billion, a 5.4 percent increase, and per-pupil funding will be 6 percent higher.
 
The state constitution requires education funding to increase every year but for a long time now the budget has withheld some of the money due to K-12 education to spend on other budget priorities. Thus, the budget stabilization factor, which is essentially just the money constitutionally owed to funding education. There has been some level of BS factor since the Great Recession and it has been over $1 billion at times, but this year’s budget brings the BS factor to $321 million, down from $503 million. 
 
Another huge part of the budget is the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which manages the state’s Medicaid program. Decreased federal spending will drive large increases in state spending. The general fund contribution to the department’s budget will grow to over $1 billion, a 33.4 percent increase. The total budget for the department, including federal funds, is over $14 billion of the state budget. 
 
The budget also includes $2.6 billion for human services, $1.8 billion for transportation, and $993 million for corrections. There will also be around $900 million for lawmakers to argue over how it should be spent in legislation this session, although a lot of that money will likely be used for payments to PERA and the Unemployment Trust Fund. Legislators have $40 million to spend on bills with ongoing costs. 
 
With so many big and little items in the budget there is always a lot for legislators to debate. This year, members of the House drafted 57 amendments to the budget and 11 ultimately passed. Those amendments will be stripped off in the Senate and the Senate will add amendments to a clean version of the bill. The JBC then reconciles the two versions and doesn’t have to accept any of the amendments, but if something is bipartisan and passes in both chambers it usually has a better chance. 
 
Here are the amendments that passed in the House:

• Adds $75K General Fund for the Agricultural Leadership Program.
• Appropriates $50M from the Economic Recovery and Relief Cash Fund to the Community Revitalization Fund in OEDIT for grants.
• Adds $100K General Fund to the line item for the Board of Governors in CDHE for the AgNext Climate Change Program at CSU.
• Adds $75K General Fund to the line item for the Board of Governors in CDHE for the Beef Sticks for Backpacks Program at CSU.
• $2M General fund for the Collaborative Management Program in CDHS.
• $3M General Fund in CDHS for Tony Grampsas Youth Services Program.
• Adds $1M GF for the Eviction Legal Defense Fund in the Judicial Dept.
• Adds $500K GF for Court Appointed Special Advocates in OCR in Judicial.
• Eliminates Funding Increase for the Office of Public Guardianship in Judicial.
• Adds $3M cash funds from the marijuana tax cash funds to the Dept of Law for the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Program.
• Adds $2.3M total funds, including $42,498 GF to DPS for an additional 3% salary survey increase for State Patrol Troopers.

 
The Senate will take up the budget next week, largely following the exact same process as the House. The JBC will then reconvene as the conference committee and then both chambers will ultimately pass the same final version of the state budget. 
 
In non-budget news, the Governor and Democratic legislators held a press conference on Thursday to tout a new package of funding aimed at reducing ozone and improving air quality. The package will include $65 million in grants for electric school buses, $58 million for ozone season transit fares and a bus rapid transit pilot, $15 million for low emission trucks, $12 million for electric bike rebates and ride share, and $47 million ongoing spending over the next few years. 
 
Despite how late it is in the session, big bills are still getting introduced. For example, House Bill 1355 about fees on manufacturers for recycling was just introduced yesterday. The bill is over 50 pages long and creates a complex system where an independent third party Producer Responsibility Board will determine recycling goals for the state, establish fees on all recyclable packages and products sold in the state and dole out grants to local governments to establish local recycling programs. Only two states have similar laws on the books and those programs have not been implemented yet. The bill is already scheduled for its first committee hearing next week.
 
Overall, the legislature is up to 551 total bills introduced this session - 358 House Bills, and 193 Senate Bills. Plus many more still to come!
 
Have a good weekend.