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State Issues
Colorado Wasteful Spending (FY 2024-25)
Department of Corrections: $ 7,995,411 Increase 28.3 FTE
● Transgender Unit and Healthcare
- $2,677,911 to create two transgender living units totaling 148 beds.
- $5,317,500 for “gender-confirming surgical care.
●Clinical Staff Incentives
- $6,312,464 General Fund to provide incentive payments for certain DOC clinical staff up to $25,000.
- The bill includes an increase of $6,312,464 General Fund to provide incentive payments for certain DOC clinical staff up to $25,000.
●HB 24-1389 School Funding 2023-24 for New Arrival Students (immigrants): $24,000,000
- The bill provides $24,000,000 to be distributed to school districts and charter schools for new arrival students. It increases state expenditures and school district funding in the current FY 2023-24 only.
● Office of New Americans Expansion (immigrants): $119,029 General Fund and 1.5 FTE
- $119,029 General Fund and 1.5 FTE for an administrator to manage ONA grants, coordinate with other entities, and identify opportunities for new migrant career pathway enhancement and a full-time program assistant to support the ONA Director.
-This office has had difficulty expending grants.
●SB 24-182 Immigrant Identification Document Issuance: $ 122,855
- The bill changes certain requirements for the issuance of driver licenses or state identification cards to individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States. The bill increases state expenditures for FY 2024-25 and FY 2025-26 only.
●HB 24-1280 Welcome, Reception, Integration, Grant Program:
$ 2,436,862
- The bill creates the Statewide Welcome, Reception, and Integration Grant Program to provide assistance to migrants. It transfers funds in FY 2024-25 only.
●Immigrant Legal Defense Fund: $ 350,000
- Long Bill budget amendment
- A doubling of the fund for FY 2024-25 making a total budget of $700,000. This funding is used for public defense for people facing immigration legal issues. Sponsored by Rep. Mabrey and Sen. Gonzalez.
●Office of Health Equity and Environmental Justice: $ 2,840,715
- Funding for the Office
- Mission: Build partnerships to mobilize community power and transform systems to advance health equity and environmental justice.
- What this office does to advance their mission:
1. Build relationships with communities and across sectors to address root causes of health disparities.
2. Use equity in decision-making and partner with all sectors of government to embed health and equity considerations into their decision-making process.
3. Use data to support the narrative of the social determinants of health and tell the story of what creates health.
4. De-center communications from the English language or any one dominant language, and prioritize language justice when engaging with communities.
5. Develop, implement, and provide guidance on health equity training, practice, and policies within CDPHE and across the state of Colorado.
6. Focus on upstream determinants of health, guided by the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative.
●HB 24-1197 Department of Public Safety Supplemental: $ 9,800,000
- Funding for Community-based organizations providing service for migrants.
- Funds to provide grants to community-based organizations providing services to people migrating to Colorado.
●Department of Education: $ 56,100,000
- Expanding Healthy Meals for All Program.
- Adds $56.1 million total funds for the Healthy School Meals for All Program, including $40.6 million from the Healthy School Meals for All Program General Fund Exempt Account and $15.5 million from the General Fund. This includes an increase of $56.0 million for meal reimbursements and $100,000 for consulting resources.
●HB 21-1318 Department of Public Health & Environment: $ 198,192
- Outdoor Equity Program
- This bill injected identity politics into access to the outdoors.
●Department of Public Health & Environment: $2,840,715 total funds and 8.3 FTE
- Creating the Office of Health Equity and Environmental Justice by combining two offices.
- The bill includes an increase of $2,840,715 total funds and 8.3 FTE, including a reduction of $11,349 General Fund, to join the Environmental Justice Program with the Office of Health Equity to form the Office of Health Equity and Environmental Justice (OHEEJ) for the purpose of centralizing environmental justice staff. OHEEJ is responsible for ongoing environmental justice work, including administration of environmental health mitigation grants through the Community Impact Cash Fund.
●Department of Revenue: $714,515 total funds and 8.3 FTE
- GENTAX & DRIVES SUPPORT FUNDING: The bill includes an increase of $714,515 total funds and 8.3 FTE, comprised of $442,906 General Fund and $271,609 cash funds from the Colorado DRIVES Vehicle Services. Account, in FY 2024-25. Funds will address the backlog of upgrades and system enhancements to the DRIVES and GenTax systems stemming from legislative, user experience, and system operational demands.
Colorado’s Budget Reality:
Overspending, Unverified Numbers, and the Push for Restraint
Colorado’s Medicaid program overspent its FY 2025-26 General Fund authority by $157.9 million, or about 2.7 percent of the department’s final spending authority. That figure comes from the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing’s presentation to the legislature’s Medicaid commission. Roughly $86.4 million of the overage stemmed from service utilization, accounting adjustments, and a $33.1 million shortfall in recoveries. Senate Bill 25-314 substantially changed the Recoveries Audit Contract process; the fiscal note assumed no change in recoveries. That assumption proved wrong. The remaining gap included lower-than-expected drug rebate offsets and other forecast misses.
Projections show the problem growing. Officials estimated the program could run $443 million over its current-year General Fund appropriation and face even larger pressures the following year. Nonpartisan Legislative Council Staff has placed the overall state budget gap near $1.6 billion once required obligations for Medicaid, school finance, capital needs, and other current-law costs are included. Medicaid already consumes the largest share of the operating budget and has grown faster than general fund revenue in recent years. Utilization, not enrollment growth, is the primary driver.
At the same time, the Office of the State Auditor could not verify the accuracy of the State Controller’s Fiscal Year 2026 TABOR Financial Report. Auditors lacked sufficient documentation to conclude that the Controller complied with applicable statutes in preparing the report or to confirm that the report matched the state’s underlying accounting records. The Controller’s reissued September 8 certification claimed no TABOR refund because revenue sat $275 million under the excess revenues cap. Auditors could not verify that figure or other key calculations. Staff turnover, inadequate supervisory review, and limited training contributed to the problems. Final audited figures are due later, but the interim inability to confirm basic compliance and the no-refund finding leaves taxpayers without reliable information on whether the state is above or below the constitutional limit.
These developments arrive as voters consider measures that would alter Colorado’s spending framework. Amendment 87 would replace the flat 4.4 percent income tax with a graduated structure topping out at 8.4 percent on income above $1 million, while reducing rates on lower brackets. Official estimates project roughly $2 billion in additional annual revenue once fully implemented. That new revenue would be treated as a voter-approved change exempt from the TABOR revenue limit and directed to education, health care, and early childhood programs. A separate proposal would raise the TABOR spending limit itself. The Wall Street Journal has noted that the combination would weaken the existing spending constraint and introduce a progressive income tax. Fiscal-impact estimates on both sides deserve close scrutiny before Election Day. Claims of modest tax cuts for most filers must be weighed against the permanent removal of the single-rate requirement, the creation of new revenue outside the cap, and the state’s demonstrated difficulty living within current limits.
The pattern is clear. The legislature and executive agencies have repeatedly exceeded authorized spending, understated costs in fiscal notes, and produced TABOR reports the independent auditor cannot verify. Expanding the tax base or exempting large new revenue streams from the constitutional limit does not correct the underlying problem of spending that outpaces available resources. Responsible budgeting requires accurate forecasting, timely and verifiable reporting, and a willingness to prioritize within existing revenues rather than treating every shortfall as a reason to raise taxes or loosen restraints. Colorado voters and their representatives still have the tools to demand that discipline. Using them is the only reliable way to protect both essential services and the state’s long-term fiscal health.
