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Tag: State Budget

Gaines: Subsidies save some—but in reality, they’re just wealth transfers
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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...
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Gaines: Instead of schools, state grants funded advocacy for equity, gay forestry—and ‘indigenizing’
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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...
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42 Percent of Colorado Roads in Poor Condition as CDOT Spending Soars
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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 ...
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Polis’ $28M Capitol bridge project proposal advances with 8–4 vote from state advisory committee
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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...
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$2.3B at risk? House Republicans press Polis to end Medicaid funding for illegals
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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...
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$29M in errors, 30% staff vacancy: Audit uncovers years Colorado prison system budget mismanagement
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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...
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Economists Sound Alarm: Colorado Faces Sluggish Growth, Shrinking Revenues
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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...
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Gaines: Phil Weiser spends your tax dollars suing Trump and backing gun control
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Colorado Accountability Project, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Gaines: Phil Weiser spends your tax dollars suing Trump and backing gun control

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project There but for the grace of God goes Colorado I was corresponding with someone recently and they mentioned something interesting. This person is a lawyer and said they were in a 10th circuit (Federal) courtroom recently and overheard an appellate case out of New Mexico about gun control. I am not sure if you remember, but New Mexico's governor made quite a splash a while back by declaring a public health emergency related to guns, trying essentially to use that to take away the Second Amendment rights of the citizens of that state. Those orders, and later iterations of same, have been working their way through the courts ever since. The first link below is to that case if you're curious. This person asked a neighbor...
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Colorado Republicans: Effort to save taxpayers money ‘shredded’ by Democrats this session
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Colorado Republicans: Effort to save taxpayers money ‘shredded’ by Democrats this session

By Marianne Goodland | Denver Gazette Republican lawmakers, who are in the minority at the state Capitol, said they saw little success in their campaign to save residents money this year, as Democrats "shredded" that goal. At the beginning of the session, Republicans unveiled a series of measures that, they insisted, would save the average Colorado family $4,500 each year. "We had hopes to make life more affordable," said Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen of Monument. The agenda included measures to repeal the state's grocery bag ban and undo a retail delivery fee, ride share fees, and regulations around cage-free eggs. They also sought reductions in energy and utility costs, and pushed to reduce and — eventually repeal — the state income tax and the state tax on Social ...
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Colorado lawmakers propose budget full of cuts and cash sweeps
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado lawmakers propose budget full of cuts and cash sweeps

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Lawmakers on Monday introduced in the state Senate the legislation setting up the 2025-26 budget, which contains hundreds of millions of dollars in funding cuts, transfers and sweeps.   The spending plan comes in at $43.9 billion. The plan includes $16.7 billion in general fund dollars. That is the discretionary money that comes from corporate and individual income taxes, as well as sales and use taxes. Lawmakers use that money to fund new programs, although it will be in short supply in a year when the Joint Budget Committee will have to find ways to cover a $1.2 billion shortfall. Senate Bill 206 was introduced along with 63 "orbitals" — bills that make statutory changes to balance the budget. And that's where a lot...
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