ALERT: The Joint Budget Committee wrapped up its 2024-25 budget proposal just before 2 a.m. today.
Facing a potential $170 million shortfall at the start of the week, lawmakers reversed a number of their earlier decisions and dipped deeply into various state cash funds to balance the budget.
Two of the largest decisions were made well after midnight. Lawmakers approved a 3% in-state tuition hike and $132 million funding increase for higher education, and increased the reimbursement rate for Medicaid providers by 2%, instead of 2.5%.
Earlier this year, Joint Budget Committee Chair Shannon Bird issued a warning to the rest of the Colorado legislature: Hands off the state’s marijuana taxes.
The Westminster Democrat’s concerns proved prescient. Under the latest state revenue forecasts released last week, not only will Colorado not collect enough marijuana tax money to fund new programs — it doesn’t even have enough to pay for some things lawmakers already approved.
As it rushed to finish the 2024-25 state budget proposal this week, the JBC agreed to use the forecast from the governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting, which sees marijuana collections dropping to $140 million in the current fiscal year. That’s down from the $175 million lawmakers were expecting when they first adopted the 2023-24 budget.
The other forecast, from Colorado Legislative Council Staff, shows marijuana tax collections dropping to $136 million this year.
Economists blame the drop in part on declining consumption after pot use surged nationwide during the pandemic. But states that legalized marijuana earliest, like Colorado, Washington and Oregon, have seen the biggest decline in sales as other states have legalized the drug, supply has surged and prices have fallen.
Both projections show revenue rebounding slightly next year — but, as JBC budget analysts noted, forecasters have been wrong before. This was the second straight year a downward revision in the forecast spurred lawmakers to cut spending from the marijuana fund.
“This feels like Groundhog Day,” Craig Harper, the JBC staff director, told the JBC this week. “I gave pretty much the same presentation last year. It’s almost impossible for me to picture you not being in the same position next year.”
The JBC voted early Friday morning to delay by two years a $20 million marijuana payment to a K-12 school construction program after revenue forecasts from OSPB and Legislative Council Staff showed the state would have to dip into its cash reserves to make ends meet.
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MORE: For years, lawmakers have used the marijuana cash fund as a cash cow to pay for pet projects that budget writers don’t believe fit with what voters intended when they legalized marijuana. But backed into a corner two years in a row with budget deadlines looming, the JBC cut funding from a place voters clearly intended the money to go: public education, in the form of school construction grants.
Committee members said they didn’t like it — they just didn’t see a better option. “The only way that this works is if we do all of these things, pretty much,” Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, D-Arvada, said at a hearing earlier this week.
DO THE MATH
23
The number of times the Office of State Planning and Budgeting has had to adjust its marijuana tax collection estimates downward in the past 24 quarterly forecasts.
Marijuana tax revenue has been in a free fall in recent years.
A Joint Budget Committee staff analysis found that economic forecasters with OSPB and Colorado Legislative Council have consistently overestimated revenue over the past several forecasts, creating headaches for lawmakers this week as they balanced the budget.
THE NARRATIVE
Who is on Colorado’s primary ballot — and who didn’t make it — as nominating assemblies begin and the signature petition deadline arrives
With legislative district nominating assemblies starting last weekend and petition signatures due to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office on Tuesday, primary ballot lineups are starting to take shape — particularly for Democrats.
Here are some highlights:
(A reminder: Candidates need 30% of delegates’ support at their respective nominating assemblies to make the primary ballot. They can also make the ballot by collecting petition signatures, though if they also go through the caucus and assembly process they also need 10% of the delegate vote at their district’s nominating assembly. The candidate who wins the most support at their nominating assembly gets their name listed first on the ballot, which traditionally leads to a slight boost in support.)
Several other county Democratic and Republican parties are holding their nominating assemblies over the next two weekends.
The Colorado Democratic Party is posting nomination results here. The Colorado GOP, meanwhile, hasn’t posted the dates or results of any of its county assemblies.
MORE: For the candidates who bypassed the caucus and assembly process and only gathered voter signatures to try to make the ballot, Tuesday was the deadline to turn those signatures in.
Here’s a look at the candidates in some key congressional contests who did — and didn’t — meet the deadline:
You can find a complete list of candidates who gathered signatures to try to make the ballot and whether they turned them in here. The list also shows whether the signatures have been vetted yet by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.
DON’T MISS: Click here for our list of candidates who have filed thus far to run to represent state House and Senate districts. You can also find a list of Colorado congressional candidates here.
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THE POLITICAL TICKER
4TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018 and 2022, said Thursday he will run for the Republican special election nomination in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District to finish out the term of retiring U.S. Rep. Ken Buck. “I’m exclusively only running for the special election,” he told Kim Monson on her conservative talk radio show. “I’m not interested in adding more chaos or confusion. This would allow those that are seeking a career in public service to run their campaigns unencumbered by the restrictions of a special election.” The GOP nominee will be selected on March 28 by a vacancy committee. Read more about Lopez here. Republican John Fabbricatore, a former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who is running in the November election in the 6th Congressional District, was also considering whether to pursue the nomination while still continuing his 6th District bid.
4TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Meanwhile, two candidates who were running in the November race to replace Buck announced their decisions Thursday about pursuing the special election nomination. Conservative commentator Deborah Flora said she has changed her mind and won’t be running for the nomination. She posted on social media Thursday that the vacancy election “has lacked clarity and transparency. For purposes of voter confidence, the best outcome of this insider process would be to elect a placeholder to immediately engage on behalf of CD4 citizens.” State Rep. Mike Lynch of Wellington said he has decided to run for the nomination.
PROPERTY TAXES: The Bell Policy Center, a liberal think tank, is pushing three new property tax ballot measures aimed at combating tax cut proposals offered by Colorado Concern, a nonprofit representing state business leaders, and Advance Colorado, a conservative politician nonprofit. The Bell Policy Center’s measures include Initiative 260, which would impose a conditional and supplemental statewide property tax on luxury homes valued at $5 million to generate revenue for local governments to offset the Colorado Concern/Advance proposals. Meanwhile, Initiative 261 would let the state use the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights surplus to offset the cuts and Initiative 262 would increase the commercial property tax assessment rate (except for small businesses) to 29% if the annual increase in property tax revenue is limited to less than the rate of inflation. The Bell Policy Center doesn’t have the same deep pockets as Colorado Concern and Advance Colorado, however, which means the group is far less likely to get the measures on the November ballot.
MORE: Today is the last day for people to submit measures to Legislative Council Staff for the November ballot. Initiatives then need to be filed with the Title Board by April 5 and get approval by April 17. Finally, proponents must collect enough signatures by Aug. 5 to get anything on the November ballot.
STORY: Colorado Medicaid problems still rampant as state agency tries to address computer, structure issues
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Colorado man who helped drag police officer into mob during Jan. 6 riot sentenced to 5-plus years in prison
KUNC: “Tired of broken promises”: Ute leaders call on state to follow through on Tribal commitments
KDVR: Colorado bill to ban use of “excited delirium” heads to governor
AXIOS DENVER: Joe Neguse elected assistant House Democratic leader
THE HILL: Freedom Caucus votes to remove Ken Buck
COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO: Colorado Democratic Party begins steps to remove vice-chair who harassed lawmaker
COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO: New law means an HOA can’t stop you from hardening your home against wildfires
THE DENVER POST: Why Colorado’s push for more high-density housing near transit irks cities — even some that allow it
9NEWS: Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert takes credit for bill she voted against, again
THIS WEEK’S PODCAST: Colorado’s 2024 budget is coming. Here are some highlights.
COLORADO GOP
The Colorado GOP spent nearly $10,000 on mailer targeting The Gazette, Jeff Crank and Nikki Haley
The Colorado GOP spent nearly $10,000 last month on a mailer attacking a primary opponent of Chairman Dave Williams in the 5th Congressional District, as well as then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and The Gazette newspaper in Colorado Springs, according to federal campaign finance reports.
In its Federal Election Commission report, the Colorado GOP identified the mailer as a “response to an attack article.” The party said it paid Martin Print and Mail LLC, a Colorado Springs company created in March 2023, $9,866 for the mailer.
The background: The GOP mailer called The Gazette’s recent report that the party asked the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, which uses Dominion Voting Systems equipment, for help counting ballots at the party’s state assembly in April defamatory. Election conspiracy theorists have made baseless allegations that Dominion Voting Systems, which is based in Denver, manipulated the 2020 presidential election results to deny Donald Trump reelection. Williams has said he believes the 2020 election was stolen.
The mailer, which appeared to target El Paso County voters, accused The Gazette of “corrupt campaigning for Nikki Haley and Jeff Crank.” Crank, a conservative commentator, is running in the 5th Congressional District Republican primary against Williams. “The Gazette has become the corrupt political arm of anti-Trump billionaire Phil Anschutz,” the mailer said.
The GOP raised $64,000 last month and spent nearly $86,000, ending February with about $626,000 in cash. The Colorado Democratic Party, by comparison, raised $142,000 and spent about $129,000, ending February with $322,000 in cash.
The Colorado GOP also paid $12,000 to Fox Group Ltd., which is owned by Williams, for consulting, and $11,750 to Tactical Data Solutions, owned by party Treasurer Tom Bjorklund. It also paid $10,000 to Liberty Service Corp., a Colorado Springs political firm headed by Republican consultant Jon Hotaling, for fundraising.
Williams also received more than $3,000 in travel reimbursements.
The party paid eBay $1,762 for balloting equipment and another $324 for ballots. The party said in an email last month that it would use “two 1970s-technology optical readers from Scantron” to initially count votes at the state assembly in April, with a subsequent hand count of ballots being used as the official tally.
In the past, the party has used handheld, electronic clickers to vote at state assemblies.
The GOP’s largest donor last month was the Republican National Committee, which gave $5,000.
The Colorado Democratic Party spent $42,000 on payroll and payroll taxes in February. The party also spent $36,000 on the party’s annual gala this Saturday. The party received $35,000 from a joint fundraiser with U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, of Thornton, and about $27,000 from selling voter files to candidates.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Corrections & Clarifications
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