{"id":24933,"date":"2024-11-09T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-09T19:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/governors-proposed-colorado-budget-cuts-personnel-funding-to-prepare-for-tighter-spending\/"},"modified":"2024-11-09T19:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-09T19:30:00","slug":"governors-proposed-colorado-budget-cuts-personnel-funding-to-prepare-for-tighter-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/governors-proposed-colorado-budget-cuts-personnel-funding-to-prepare-for-tighter-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor\u2019s proposed Colorado budget cuts personnel funding to prepare for tighter spending"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Colorado
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, seen here on May 24, released his 2025-2026 state budget proposal, which prepared for tighter spending given decreasing inflation this year. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/span>dur-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday released his 2025-2026 state budget proposal, which prepared for tighter spending given decreasing inflation this year.<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s budget growth is tied to inflation and population growth under the Taxpayer\u2019s Bill of Rights, and while inflation peaked around 8% in 2022, and hit 5% last year, an inflation rate of 2.5% in 2024 means the state\u2019s budget increase this year is smaller than in the last two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of what we did this budget is we really tried to drive government efficiency everywhere and anywhere we could find it,\u201d Polis said. \u201cWe challenged our agencies, we went out and we found things that we could cut to make government more efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

The budget proposal comes out to over $46 billion with about $17.8 billion for the general fund. General fund dollars are slightly lower than in last year\u2019s proposal. The proposal maintains a 15% general fund reserve.<\/p>\n

Polis proposed a 1% cut for state personnel services across the board, though he would combine the two budget lines personnel funding comes from to give departments more flexibility on where they will make those cuts. The proposal would also adjust various task forces and commissions whose work can be delegated elsewhere. Pinnacol Assurance, the state\u2019s workers’ compensation insurer of last resort, would be privatized under Polis\u2019 proposal.<\/p>\n

For K-12 school funding, Polis proposed implementing 10% of the new school finance formula the Legislature adopted in the spring, extending the rollout of that program across seven years instead of six while still avoiding the budget stabilization factor \u2013 the amount of money the state owes schools based on a formula but chooses to spend on other priorities. The budget also calls for per-pupil funding as opposed to the current system, which bases funding on average enrollment over a few years. Polis called this \u201csensible, long overdue changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just interested in fully funding our schools one year, as an example,\u201d Polis said. \u201cWe want to make sure we\u2019re preparing the state budget for delivery on these promises over many years, including implementing the new school finance act to better fund students in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Minority Leader Rep. Rose Pugliese, a Colorado Springs Republican, criticized the slow rollout of the new school finance formula and said the budget doesn\u2019t have enough funding dedicated to public safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I appreciate the Governor\u2019s commitment to avoiding the budget stabilization factor, there is still much more work to be done to address Colorado\u2019s education needs fully,\u201d Pugliese said in a statement. \u201cUnfortunately, the school finance reforms we have pushed for will not take effect soon enough. Colorado families can\u2019t wait seven years for an updated formula to roll out \u2013 our students deserve real support now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s Medicaid caseload has been \u201chigher than expected,\u201d Polis said, with Medicaid costs accounting for 36% of the state\u2019s operating budget and 32% of general fund spending for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. With more increases expected, Polis proposes maintaining current Medicaid reimbursement rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last few years, we\u2019ve worked hard to build a safe, affordable, sustainable Colorado, and the focus of this budget is really maintaining the progress we\u2019ve had and making sure that we can tighten our belts and deliver fiscal responsibility, more government efficiency and meet those commitments around continuing to fully fund our schools and investments in public safety,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n

The governor can submit a supplemental budget amendment package on Jan. 2, which would include any changes that result from ballot measures voters may pass in the election this week.<\/p>\n

State lawmakers are the ones who are ultimately responsible for writing and passing the state budget during next year\u2019s session.<\/p>\n

To read more stories from Colorado Newsline, visit www.coloradonewsline.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, seen here on May 24, released his 2025-2026 state budget proposal, which prepared for tighter spending given decreasing inflation this year. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)dur-i-syn Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday released his 2025-2026 state budget proposal, which prepared for tighter spending given decreasing inflation this year. Colorado\u2019s budget growth is tied […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,28,1823,265],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-24933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-headlines","tag-money-and-monetary-policy","tag-politics"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24933","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=24933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24933"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=24933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}