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Tag: State Budget

State Triggers Emergency Prison Measures Due to Overcrowding
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The Gazette, Approved, State

State Triggers Emergency Prison Measures Due to Overcrowding

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Gazette Ongoing issues within the Colorado Department of Corrections have prompted the state to trigger its Prison Population Management Measures — a policy framework established in 2018 to address overcrowding. It marks the first time the measures have been put into effect. Under the law, the governor must implement the management measures if the state’s prison vacancy rate stays below 3% for 30 consecutive days, a threshold that was met on Aug. 16. The issue of overcrowding in the state correctional facilities has been a growing concern for months, with county sheriffs sounding the alarm in May over the shortage of prison beds, leading to increased strain on local jails. Facing a budget shortfall of over $1 billion, state lawmake...
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November ballot tax hike seeks to cover collapsing ‘free’ lunch program and SNAP
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

November ballot tax hike seeks to cover collapsing ‘free’ lunch program and SNAP

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–Colorado voters are set to decide further hiking taxes on high-income earners to prop up the state’s dwindling “free” school lunch program as part of the November statewide ballot.  But under a recently amended version of the measure, any excess revenues would be used to also subsidize the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly known as food stamps. Colorado’s Healthy School Meals for All program began shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, when the legislature fully funded “free” school meals for every kid in the public school system for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years. With funding set to end after the 2022, lawmakers asked Coloradans to approve Proposition FF, which raised taxes on Coloradan...
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Colorado’s unelected energy board moves to give Xcel control over your appliances
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s unelected energy board moves to give Xcel control over your appliances

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project, Substack Low energy, low carbon, and higher upfront cost energy codes are now complete I have written in the past about our state's model energy code.** Per the quote (with link left intact) coming from the link at bottom:"The Model Low Energy and Carbon Code, which is required by state law HB22-1362, becomes Colorado’s new minimum energy code on July 1, 2026. Any municipality or county that updates any of its building codes after that date must adopt the model code, or a code that will achieve greater energy efficiency and pollution reductions."That second sentence there is the operant one. Get ready to have this code forced upon your locality as soon as they update their building codes post 7/1/2026.I'll leave it to ...
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Polis Budget Cuts Threaten Health Care Access for Medicaid Patients
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Polis Budget Cuts Threaten Health Care Access for Medicaid Patients

By Brandon Richard | Denver7 Gov. Jared Polis says the cuts helped rebalance the state budget after Congress passed President Trump's tax bill DENVER — Coloradans may be forced to pay more and wait longer for health care treatment due to some of the budget cuts Gov. Jared Polis announced this week. Polis said the cuts were necessary to help rebalance the state budget after a Republican federal tax and spending bill, H.R.1. (One Big Beautiful Bill Act), reduced the state’s revenue and created a $783 million budget gap. "Unlike the federal government, we have to balance our budget,” Polis said. The governor made more than $250 million in cuts and redirected spending across departments. "What H.R.1 does in a way is it makes these cuts, and then it makes states be the bad guy...
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Polis Orders $252 Million in Cuts After Years of Overspending Strain State Finances
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State, Approved, The Gazette

Polis Orders $252 Million in Cuts After Years of Overspending Strain State Finances

By Marianne Goodland | The Gazette Lawmakers balk at some cuts, particularly reductions to health care provider rates. Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday signed an executive order, initiating the process to cut $252.5 million in cash and general funds from this year's budget, with the most significant impact on the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which administers Medicaid. Polis also signed into law a measure from the recently concluded special session that requires him to meet with the Joint Budget Committee to review the spending reduction plan.  That meeting was often tense, with the legislators who craft the state budget indicating they aren't going along with some of his cuts, particularly for Medicaid providers. Policymakers said the actions taken durin...
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Colorado Lawmakers Hand Polis Authority for $300 Million in Spending Cuts
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State, Approved, DENVER7

Colorado Lawmakers Hand Polis Authority for $300 Million in Spending Cuts

By Brandon Richard | Denver7 The governor could make up to $300 million in spending cuts as part of the Democrats' plan to fix the budget gap. DENVER — Colorado’s special session is over, but there’s still more work to do to address the state’s $783 million budget gap. Most of that work will fall to Governor Jared Polis. Colorado’s Democratic legislative leaders have a three-part plan to address the budget gap. They took care of one part of that plan during their six-day special session when they cut several corporate tax breaks. "I'm grateful my colleagues didn't shy away from this challenge,” said Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver. “We faced it head-on. We rolled up our sleeves. We acted like the adults in the room." But they’re leaving the other two parts of...
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Colorado absorbed 43,000 illegal immigrants in 2 years as taxpayers foot the bill
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Breitbart, Approved, State

Colorado absorbed 43,000 illegal immigrants in 2 years as taxpayers foot the bill

By Warner Todd Huston | Breitbart Colorado gained 43,000 illegal aliens in just two years, a report revealed. The estimated number of illegal aliens living in Colorado jumped from 160,000 in 2021 to more than 200,000 by 2023, according to the latest report by Pew Research Center. The largest number of those illegals ended up in and around Denver, the paper reported. The number has jumped even more in the years covered by the Pew report, according to the Denver News Gazette. The paper noted that city officials pegged the number of illegals entering Denver at 43,000, of which about 20,000 have remained living in the city. The Gazette also claimed that the influx of illegals has cost the taxpayers of the city of Denver at least $100 million. The D...
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Colorado GOP Says Special Session Fell Short as Democrats Claim Progress
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State, Approved, DENVER7

Colorado GOP Says Special Session Fell Short as Democrats Claim Progress

By Colleen Slevin | Denver7 Governor Jared Polis is expected to address the remaining $500 million budget gap in a presentation to the Joint Budget Committee on Thursday. DENVER — Colorado's special legislative session ended on Tuesday after six days. The success of the session depends on which state lawmaker you ask. Governor Jared Polis called the session on Aug. 6 to address the state's $1.2 billion budget hole, which he said was created by tax changes made in President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Act (H.R.1). According to the governor and fellow Colorado Democrats, Colorado will collect less revenue than expected when lawmakers approved the state budget in May. Some of that $1.2 billion revenue loss was absorbed by the state education fund and the affordable housing fu...
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Colorado Lawmakers Clash Over Wolves, Health Subsidies and State Budget
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State, Approved, The Denver Gazette

Colorado Lawmakers Clash Over Wolves, Health Subsidies and State Budget

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Day three of the legislature's special session ended with the Senate working late into the night to begin debate on the House tax bills sent over earlier in the day, after the House wrapped up voting on those measures, along with bills on health insurance and the Healthy School Meals for all ballot measures. The House's work Saturday night included debate on Senate Bill 5, which would prohibit Colorado Parks and Wildlife from using general fund dollars to acquire more wolves in the current fiscal year. The bill also diverts $264,000 to the Health Insurance Accountability Enterprise to pay for subsidies for health insurance premiums purchased through the state exchange. Those premiums are expected to soar for the individual market by as much a...
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Lawmakers Pass The Buck On Budget Deficit Leaving Decisions To Governor Polis
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State, Approved, The Gazette

Lawmakers Pass The Buck On Budget Deficit Leaving Decisions To Governor Polis

By Marianne Goodland | The Gazette Most measures introduced for special session offer no clear plan to solve budget deficit. More than two dozen bills have been introduced ahead of Thursday’s special legislative session, where lawmakers will try to come up with nearly $800 million in budget cuts. What’s notably absent from the proposed bills so far is any clear plan for how those cuts would be made. Indeed, only one bill even hints at specific reductions — a proposal from Western Slope lawmakers to cut $264,000 from the state’s wolf management program and redirect that money to help pay for health insurance subsidies. There are two bills, similar in some regards, from members of the Joint Budget Committee, that deal with Gov. Jared Polis' authority to enact spending cuts whe...
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