Colorado’s pension system missed out on millions of dollars in potential investment revenue as a result of lawmakers’ decision last year to park money in a low-interest bank account, according to an analysis by nonpartisan legislative staff. The legislature set aside $380 million last year in a low-interest bank account to ensure the state could […]
Joint Budget Committee
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers want to tweak how at-risk students are counted amid broader school-funding overhaul
State lawmakers are looking to tweak how Colorado distributes money to help school districts support their neediest students, fearing that the current definition of “at-risk,” a measure used to determine funding, is no longer accurate. Tens of millions of dollars could be on the line. The state uses free and reduced-price lunch sign-ups to help […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s teacher shortage highlights need for more school funding, union boss says
Colorado will continue to face a critical teacher shortage unless state leaders make good on their constitutional obligation to increase education funding, the head of Colorado’s largest teacher union says. “We’re at a crisis point that requires bold action by our legislature,” Colorado Education Association President Amie Baca-Oehlert told The Colorado Sun in an interview […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s taxable home values could skyrocket in 2023
The taxable value of Colorado homes is expected to rise dramatically in 2023, according to the most recent forecast by the General Assembly’s economists – and not just in the white hot Front Range and mountain resort real estate markets. As families flee high housing prices in those areas, they’re pushing up prices on Denver’s […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government, Social Services
Hundreds of Colorado children are awaiting adoption. State officials are asking for new funding to find them homes.
The list of foster children who legally belong to the state of Colorado has 533 names. Among them is a 15-year-old girl who has lived in 26 places since she went into foster care and became available for adoption at age 10. Another is a 19-year-old man who has spent 226 months – more than […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers still have more than $2.6 billion in federal COVID stimulus to spend
In the summer of 2020, Colorado lawmakers were grappling with deep cuts to the state’s budget amid uncertainty about coronavirus and how the pandemic would impact the state’s economy. Now, as they enter the 2022 legislative session, they have a very different and welcome challenge: deciding how to spend more than $2.6 billion in federal […]
Posted inHealth, News
Colorado’s mental health system is “broken.” An audit could reveal why, and what to do about it.
As state policymakers and media outlets scrutinize Colorado’s mental health system, the head of a trade group representing 17 community mental health centers is calling for an audit. The CEO of the Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council, which advocates for the community clinics across the state, wants an audit not just of those 17 centers but […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Is Colorado’s government headed toward a fiscal cliff? Democrats say yes, Republicans say no.
Colorado’s coffers are flush with cash right now — so much so that taxpayers are getting refunds. But Democrats see trouble on the horizon. They’re not worried so much about a downturn, but the potential for spending on critical services like education and health care to run up against constitutional limits on how much tax […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
A lot more drugs are being confiscated in Colorado prisons as inmates die from overdoses
Prison staff had no idea what was happening when an inmate suddenly lost consciousness at the Limon Correctional Facility in May. It turned out the man was overdosing from fentanyl that had been snuck into the facility on the Eastern Plains. The drug is an opioid said to be 50 times more potent than heroin […]
Posted inBusiness, Housing, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s governor wants to enlist private companies to help fix public problems with new partnership office
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wants private companies to help solve public problems like a shortage of child care options and affordable housing and to help develop a Front Range passenger rail service. The Democrat’s budget proposal asks state lawmakers for more than a million dollars to open up a new public-private partnership office. The proposal […]