Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: State Budget

Gaines: Colorado’s add-back taxes are a backdoor tax on overtime
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Gaines: Colorado’s add-back taxes are a backdoor tax on overtime

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project The Great Colorado Add Back? My state senator (B Pelton) alerted me to something you'll almost certainly see in the coming state special session: add back taxes. I thought it would be good to give some resources on that so you'll better understand it and (I hope) be a better advocate on the issue. This is something I will follow up on as the special session gets going; Sen Pelton is running a bill to make such taxes conform to TABOR limits. I have asked for a copy of that bill and will share if and when I get it. There are many different kinds of tax add backs, but I'll stick to the topic of state income tax add backs because I can use the link below as a reference. The State of Colorado weblink at bottom gives ...
Read More
Colorado faces $1B hole: Governor Polis calls special session called and imposes state hiring freeze
No Comments
denvergazette.com, Approved, State

Colorado faces $1B hole: Governor Polis calls special session called and imposes state hiring freeze

By Marianne Goodland | Denver Gazette Gov. Jared Polis will convene the legislature on Aug. 21 to enact cuts to the state budget amid a $1 billion deficit, even as he is instituting a hiring freeze. The governor said the hiring freeze in state agencies will start on Aug. 27.   The governor confirmed that, in addition to spending reductions, the special session will deal with AI regulation. Lawmakers approved new AI regulations last year. They are expected to go into effect Feb. 1, 2026. The AI law established rules around the use of artificial intelligence, primarily in employment, health care, education, and government practices, where, backers said, the risk of bias or discrimination exists. Businesses have argued that the new law is problematic, potentially penaliz...
Read More
Gaines: Medicaid bloat is eating Colorado’s budget after a decade of federal expansion
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Gaines: Medicaid bloat is eating Colorado’s budget after a decade of federal expansion

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado's Medicaid bloat under Obamacare In the first post of this series, I briefly went over Colorado's Medicaid financing (how much and on what). If you want or need that context, it's the first link below. In the second part of the series, I want to talk about how Medicaid got expanded by the Feds--allowing more people to get on government-funded healthcare-- and how Colorado leapt at the expansion like a shot. There were two recent (and big) expansions of Medicaid: the first was the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) which expanded Medicaid coverage to people (including those without any disability or children)making up to 138% of the Federal Poverty wage. Screenshot 1 is a summary of the changes, it comes from...
Read More
Gaines: Subsidies save some—but in reality, they’re just wealth transfers
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Gaines: Subsidies save some—but in reality, they’re just wealth transfers

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Let me start with a couple non-contiguous quotes from the article linked at bottom. “'By better using the heat beneath our feet to help us, we are leading the nation in innovative clean energy technologies that save Coloradans money, and protect our air quality. Investing in Geothermal heating technology increases energy reliability and serves as a low-cost energy source,' Polis said." “'Geothermal heating technology plays a huge role in helping Colorado reduce emissions from homes and buildings while saving Coloradans money on heating and cooling costs,' said CEO Executive Director Will Toor. 'It’s exciting to see so many innovative geothermal initiatives being made possible due to Colorado’s investment in this technolo...
Read More
Gaines: Instead of schools, state grants funded advocacy for equity, gay forestry—and ‘indigenizing’
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Gaines: Instead of schools, state grants funded advocacy for equity, gay forestry—and ‘indigenizing’

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project In an earlier post (see the first link below), I mentioned a couple of state expenses to the environmental advocacy group Cultivando that had caught my eye in their TOPS expense report.The first was a line item for $500 labeled as "personal services -- professional" charged to the Colorado Energy Office (CEO). The other was a grant for $24,700 to Cultivando charged to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).I wrote in and got the records back for these expenses. I thought them interesting enough to share. Perhaps they're not big dollar amounts, but they are representative of the kinds of thought processes among policymakers and bureaucrats that put us in the financial state we're in--you know the state where we are short...
Read More
42 Percent of Colorado Roads in Poor Condition as CDOT Spending Soars
No Comments
State, Approved, DENVER7

42 Percent of Colorado Roads in Poor Condition as CDOT Spending Soars

By Danielle Kreutter | Denver7 DENVER — Across the state, there has been no significant improvement in infrastructure over the last five years, according to the latest "report card" from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Colorado received a cumulative grade of "C-," the same as the last study the ASCE conducted in 2020. The report looks at more than a dozen different types of infrastructure. The majority of the categories remained the same compared to the last report card. Roads were one of two categories that went down. Colorado roads were graded as a "D+." The overall grade for Colorado from ASCE has remained unchanged since 2020 Across the state, there has been no significant improvement in infrastructure over the last five years, according to the ...
Read More
Polis’ $28M Capitol bridge project proposal advances with 8–4 vote from state advisory committee
No Comments
denvergazette.com, Approved, State

Polis’ $28M Capitol bridge project proposal advances with 8–4 vote from state advisory committee

By Marianne Goodland | Denver Gazette One of the major steps in approving a pedestrian walkway linking the state Capitol to Lincoln Park won an 8-4 vote on Thursday from a building advisory committee. The vote by the General Assembly's Capitol Building Advisory Committee followed testimony from neighborhoods groups and local residents opposed to the project, as well as from supporters, including a group advocating for people with disabilities.  One of those four "no" votes came from Sen. Matt Ball, D-Denver, whose Senate district includes the state Capitol. The pedestrian walkway bridge, which Gov. Jared Polis is pushing, could come at a cost of $28.5 million, according to an analysis by 9News. That's as much as 60% higher than the original forecast. Under the plan, the br...
Read More
$2.3B at risk? House Republicans press Polis to end Medicaid funding for illegals
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

$2.3B at risk? House Republicans press Polis to end Medicaid funding for illegals

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Three Republican members of Colorado's delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives are urging Gov. Jared Polis to work with legislators to end state spending on health care coverage for undocumented immigrants — or risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding. "We write to you expressing grave concerns over Colorado’s continued policy of covering illegal immigrants with state Medicaid funds — prioritizing benefits for those unlawfully present in our country over citizens who need it the most: individuals with disabilities, single mothers, children, and seniors," U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans wrote in a letter delivered to the Democratic governor on Thursday. The letter was also signed by U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert and Jeff Cr...
Read More
$29M in errors, 30% staff vacancy: Audit uncovers years Colorado prison system budget mismanagement
No Comments
CBS Colorado, State

$29M in errors, 30% staff vacancy: Audit uncovers years Colorado prison system budget mismanagement

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado An audit of the Colorado Department of Corrections has uncovered "erroneous information and incorrect calculations" over four years of budget requests reviewed. An independent third party conducted the audit that resulted in nearly three dozen recommended changes. CDOC Executive Director Moses "Andre" Stancil told the state's Joint Budget Committee he agrees with the recommendations in the 101-page report that found CDOC's approach to budgeting is unlike any other prison system in the country, and not in a good way. "Everything has been such a fluid mess over the years," said budget writer and Republican state Rep. Rick Taggert of Grand Junction. The audit found CDOC's budget requests have had "inaccurate, incomplete, and inco...
Read More
Economists Sound Alarm: Colorado Faces Sluggish Growth, Shrinking Revenues
No Comments
State, Colorado Politics

Economists Sound Alarm: Colorado Faces Sluggish Growth, Shrinking Revenues

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Colorado's economic outlook is on a downward trend, according to state economists, who estimated that the chances of a recession here have risen to 50%. "Uncertainty is the key aspect impacting the economy now and moving forward," said Legislative Council Chief Economist Elizabeth Ramey, who discussed the June revenue forecast with the Joint Budget Committee on Wednesday. The Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) is also less than optimistic about the economic outlook, should a federal budget bill pass, predicting it could affect 100,000 people on Medicaid and SNAP, devastate the state's rural and safety net hospitals and nearly wipe out the state's general fund reserve over the next two years. Uncertainty is also the watchword f...
Read More

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds