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Colorado budget showdown: GOP forces full reading of 661-page bill, halting debate
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado budget showdown: GOP forces full reading of 661-page bill, halting debate

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A procedural battle at the Colorado Capitol boiled over on Wednesday night, when a House Republican demanded the 661‑page state budget be read aloud in full — a move that delayed the advance of the proposed $46.8 billion spending plan. Colorado legislators are constitutionally required to adopt a balanced budget each year. For next year’s budget, they are grappling with $1.5 billion deficit in general fund dollars, compelling them to cut spending and reexamine programs, particularly in Medicaid, the major factor driving the deficit. In addition to the state’s Medicaid woes, Democrats have blamed Congress for Colorado’s fiscal woes, arguing the federal budget changed the revenue equation and caused the state budget to go unbalanced. Republic...
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Food Shaming Concerns Delay Colorado Plan to Ban Soda Purchases With Food Stamps
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Food Shaming Concerns Delay Colorado Plan to Ban Soda Purchases With Food Stamps

By: Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun The SNAP rule change was delayed by a state board after a 7-hour hearing including fierce opposition from the governor’s fellow Democrats, Hunger Free Colorado and Save the Children. A plan to prohibit Coloradans from using food-assistance benefits to buy soda and sugary fruit juices was stalled Friday by a state board after opponents argued it was an overreach that could harm the dignity and autonomy of low-income families. The rule would ban the use of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, called SNAP, to buy soda as well as juices with added sugars or artificial sweeteners. Gov. Jared Polis won approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the “healthy choice” rule in August, but needed...
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Colorado Lawmakers Acknowledge Shared Responsibility for Budget Crisis
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Acknowledge Shared Responsibility for Budget Crisis

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Nonpartisan staffers told lawmakers this month that the way they spent billions of dollars in one-time federal funds given to Colorado during the COVID pandemic contributed to the state’s budget shortfall. he Colorado legislature is at least partially to blame for the structural deficit forcing lawmakers this year to cut state programs and services to address a roughly $850 million funding shortfall.  The General Assembly contributed to the deficit through its handling of billions in one-time federal funding that flowed into Colorado during the coronavirus pandemic, nonpartisan staff for the legislature’s powerful Joint Budget Committee told the panel earlier this month. At issue was how some of that money was used...
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State budget director warns Colorado could face 50–50 chance of recession in 2026
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

State budget director warns Colorado could face 50–50 chance of recession in 2026

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Mark Ferrandino, the executive director of the Governor's Office of State Planning and Budgeting, says the state has a 50-50 chance of going into a recession in 2026. Ferrandino says changes in tariffs, immigration policy and federal spending have created uncertainty for businesses and consumers. Colorado's effective tariff rate, he says, has increased from 3% in 2024 to 21%. Greg Sobetski, Colorado's chief economist, told lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) the full impact of higher tariffs has yet to hit.  "A lot of these impacts are being born at this point by firms because they can't pass that kind of price shock onto consumers," Sobetski said during the JBC meeting.  Sobetski says the state's economy is growing, but there are ...
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