{"id":24253,"date":"2024-12-21T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-budget-picture-still-tight-but-slightly-improved-in-forecast\/"},"modified":"2024-12-21T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T13:00:00","slug":"colorado-budget-picture-still-tight-but-slightly-improved-in-forecast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-budget-picture-still-tight-but-slightly-improved-in-forecast\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado budget picture still tight, but slightly improved in forecast"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FILE
FILE – The gold dome of the State Capitol is shown on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in downtown Denver. A report published this week, Friday, June 14, by a Native American-led nonprofit examines in detail the dispossession of $1.7 trillion worth of Indigenous homelands in Colorado by the state and the U.S. and the more than $546 million the state has reaped in mineral extraction from them. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/David Zalubowski, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Colorado\u2019s budget picture has slightly improved, according to figures from the December revenue forecast that show a nearly $250 million revenue increase.<\/p>\n

The nonpartisan Legislative Council\u2019s chief economist said there wasn\u2019t one significant pot of money that significantly changed. But as they worked through the forecast, they repeatedly saw collections rising above projections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found ourselves making upward revisions to most revenue streams based on collections that we’ve seen to date and our sort of firmer expectations for an economic expansion going forward,\u201d said chief economist Greg Sobetski.<\/p>\n

The state and national economy are expected to experience modest growth.<\/p>\n

Sobetski presented his projections to the legislature\u2019s Joint Budget Committee, the panel that crafts the state budget.<\/p>\n

But state economists say the increased revenue doesn\u2019t mean lawmakers will have that extra money to spend.<\/p>\n

\u201cRevisions in our general fund revenue outlook do not directly impact your budget picture because we are in a TABOR refund environment,\u201d said Sobetski.<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s constitution restricts budget growth to inflation plus population growth and anything beyond that must be refunded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s money that goes back to taxpayers. We owe them a refund because we have exceeded the TABOR limit and that money is not available for the general fund budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawmakers are still facing a nearly $700 million deficit largely due to increased Medicaid costs, and the loss of federal COVID relief money.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in the hole from what it is that we did last year and what this committee I believe would want to do mostly again by about $672 million,\u201d said Democratic State Sen. Jeff Bridges, chair of the JBC. \u201cSo we’re no longer a billion down thanks to this forecast. We’re about two-thirds of a billion down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. Jared Polis presented his budget to the JBC in November, where it got a cold reception from members of both parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the things in the governor’s proposal, I think we are discussing and have some heartburn with,\u201d said Bridges, who told the governor\u2019s office on Friday that he hoped their revised budget proposal in early January would have significant changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that we see something that is more reflective of the desires of the legislature,\u201d Bridges added.<\/p>\n

Republican Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, who also sits on the budget committee, asked if the governor\u2019s Office would include a proposal that doesn\u2019t propose Medicaid provider rate cuts and cuts to K-12 funding for certain districts that are losing enrollment, or cuts to higher education.<\/p>\n

Polis\u2019 Budget Director Mark Ferrandino, the former Democratic House Speaker, wouldn\u2019t commit to specifics but said the goal is to be fiscally prudent for the long term. He said even though the revenue picture is a bit better, it\u2019s still a difficult budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe budget has significant challenges and we can’t do everything that everyone wants or that we as a collective promised,\u201d said Ferrandino, who once chaired the JBC as a state lawmaker.<\/p>\n

The state budget doesn\u2019t even factor in the $350 million voters approved for law enforcement to improve training and retention.<\/p>\n

Added to the tight state budget is the uncertainty of what may happen at the federal level. Ferrandino said Colorado is already preparing for a potential federal government shutdown, which he said wouldn\u2019t have huge impacts on state services provided it\u2019s short.<\/p>\n

But federal changes under a new Trump administration could add a much bigger wrinkle to what the state could have to spend or pay for.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo maybe it’s nothing but maybe it’s huge and we just don’t know yet,\u201d said Ferrandino.<\/p>\n

State lawmakers return to the Capitol on Jan. 8 for the start of the 2025 legislative session. Passing a balanced budget is the only thing they\u2019re constitutionally required to do, and it\u2019s likely to overshadow anything else they want to pass next session, especially any proposals that come with a price tag.<\/p>\n

To read more stories from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– The gold dome of the State Capitol is shown on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in downtown Denver. A report published this week, Friday, June 14, by a Native American-led nonprofit examines in detail the dispossession of $1.7 trillion worth of Indigenous homelands in Colorado by the state and the U.S. and the more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1724,120,394,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-24253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-budgets-and-budgeting","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-legislature","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24253"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=24253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}