[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6295913,"mediaKeyId","2518299-8774056426307cb0f50c5ffd359aee7f","parentId",2518299,"title","CDOT warns planned cuts could imperil construction projects, urges two-year limit and spending authority for multimodal funds","audioSeconds",748,"startMs",25105,"endMs",774000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2518299-8774056426307cb0f50c5ffd359aee7f&start=25&end=774","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2518299-8774056426307cb0f50c5ffd359aee7f/thumbnail_25105.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6295913/Colorado/CDOT-warns-planned-cuts-could-imperil-construction-projects-urges-two-year-limit-and-spending-authority-for-multimodal-funds","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6295913-2fa81b8dde303391b2207d7133aca53b/orig.mp4?Expires=1774944027&Signature=EhwINT45cevggvrnKV0lFq~LaQadkrxk5PdJCFzhKOIDiNnqQqhSJlSe-MwXq3-G7F830i35FlH8HchXoAY587A4W8QJ9GmTaLL7OY6N~8bubr7P-o~W8p5vrmFaCHGyaYKg2FomGWLijYG58roysWYv90H3UUNkwlfrLZhC2mNfE0nxw0WeuC9BqXTJ8Bw2S3LX8gWq7BFT1cD80g6~qsEvnxVTqZeo51hH~29Slya4ogIxK3pZGth42g9db~NuHLXgM83pp71rN1MzoMtPhs4R353cuPGl3qlzCbDcaTHSjA9OBaRjdoGZlbJpO7BJViALuEvXhVfZSgYLa4tOmg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Colorado State Legislature","date","2025-03-03T00:00:00Z","article","Colorado Department of Transportation officials told the Joint Budget Committee on May 20 that recent budget-reduction proposals would harm projects that are already committed or under contract and urged lawmakers to limit cuts to two years rather than make them permanent. CDOT also asked the committee to increase spending authority for multimodal and Clean Transit enterprise funds so local projects and awarded grants can be completed without cancellations.

CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lou told the panel that the administration had originally proposed an enterprise strategy to protect long-term infrastructure investments — a bridge-and-tunnel enterprise and a separate structure for road maintenance — but the agency concluded that approach would not move forward this session. Lou said the absence of that proposal made the current round of proposed cuts “very harmful to the transportation program in the short term.”

\"We think the proposed changes in the letter… could set and, want want to sort of make a plea to make the changes limited to 2 years rather than permanent,\" Lou said.

Chief Financial Officer Jeff Sudmeier outlined CDOT’s fund structure and cash balances, saying most revenue streams are legally restricted and not fungible across enterprises. Sudmeier said Fund 400, the State Highway Fund, is the primary operating fund and the target of the proposed reductions. He reported combined balances in Fund 400 plus remaining Senate Bill 267 proceeds of about $1.2 billion but said that much of that balance is already committed to projects such as I-70 Floyd Hill and is forecast to be drawn down: \"We're forecasting by the end of this upcoming fiscal year, our balance will be halved, at about $600,000,000.\"

CDOT flagged the particular risk to projects that are committed but not yet federally obligated — projects that may be underway but still lack formal grant agreements. Lou and Sudmeier listed several examples they said are at risk under deep cuts: a February project in northern Colorado, improvements on I-76 in Morgan County, US 50 upgrades and a long-ago-awarded Wadsworth project that lacks a signed grant agreement.

On multimodal spending, CDOT asked the committee to grant additional spending authority for the Multimodal Options Fund (MMOF) so that the department can access dollars already awarded to local governments under Senate Bill 260 and related ARPA refinancing. CDOT reported a projected year-end MMOF fund balance of roughly $133 million but said current statutory spending authority would let it access only about $82.5 million without an increase. Sudmeier said roughly 97% of the ARPA portion of MMOF dollars are either spent or encumbered by contract with local governments and that not giving additional spending authority would force cancellations or pauses of local projects.

CDOT also requested an increase to Clean Transit Enterprise spending authority to match awarded grants and allow contracts to be executed; staff told the committee that Clean Transit had made about $15.3 million in awards that are now awaiting contracting and spending authority.

On the broader policy choices, Lou urged lawmakers to shift more of the reductions to general-fund transfers rather than fee-based cuts that would directly reduce maintenance and safety activities, and to avoid zeroing out general-fund transfers in the first year. \"We have concerns about going all the way to 0 in the first year,\" Lou said, adding that doing so would disrupt projects already in the queue.

Committee members asked detailed questions about specific funds and statutory limits: which enterprises can legally absorb other revenue (Sudmeier repeatedly said statutory restrictions limit fungibility); whether Clean Transit Enterprise or HPTE/CTIO toll revenues or penalty revenues could be repurposed (CDOT staff said corridor and enterprise statutes limit those uses and that they would need statutory changes); and whether anticipated new revenues from Senate Bill 24-230 (the oil-and-gas production fees that help fund Clean Transit) would be available for state passenger-rail projects (CDOT said the statute prescribes most of those dollars as pass-throughs to local agencies with limited state discretion).

CDOT urged the committee to consider the administration’s revised letter proposal — which shifts some of the burden away from safety and maintenance projects and limits the duration of cuts — and emphasized uncertainty at the federal level that has put several competitive grant-funded projects into a limbo state: announced and sometimes even under construction, but not yet federally obligated.

The meeting closed with CDOT asking that the committee consider two near-term steps: (1) limit the most disruptive cuts to a two-year period so the agency can re-evaluate later, and (2) provide the additional spending authority for MMOF and Clean Transit Enterprise so contracts and local projects can proceed without cancellations.

Ending: CDOT said it will provide backup slides and more detailed lines of evidence to the committee for any follow-up questions and urged continued conversation between the administration and the JBC on which specific cuts should be adjusted.

Votes at a glance: No formal committee votes were recorded during CDOT’s presentation; CDOT’s requests were entered into the record for later committee action.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Joint Budget Committee [Mar 03, 2025]","oneSentenceSummary","Colorado Department of Transportation officials told the Joint Budget Committee on May 20 that recent budget-reduction proposals would harm projects that are already committed or under contract and urged lawmakers to limit cuts to two years rather than make them permanent.","taxTitle","Joint Budget Committee, YEAR-ROUND COMMITTEES, Committees, Legislative, Colorado","taxId",45208,"location","Colorado","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6295908,"Joint Budget Committee adopts staff recommendations for Department of Labor and Employment figure setting, approves UI funding realignment and multiple line‑by‑",3245,4354700,7600000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2518299-8774056426307cb0f50c5ffd359aee7f&start=4354&end=7600","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2518299-8774056426307cb0f50c5ffd359aee7f/thumbnail_4354700.jpg","/articles/6295908/Colorado/Joint-Budget-Committee-adopts-staff-recommendations-for-Department-of-Labor-and-Employment-figure-setting-approves-UI-funding-realignment-and-multiple-lineby","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6295908-211fba7075b31760837d54d034f46516/orig.mp4?Expires=1774944027&Signature=RFAwUv3h~aQUFKrbBTRQL7bLENS4cvqxYl7zx692lKt406PwWS8Fe-GR9STTbK-6MSEXPxfxV8dTy~IYsy5n7adFsrqDAXRo2ZwLK~BIQfpghoBYTP8ZcdObSXmN7hOWFcYYI5O9wuML8LAoTb-AStOjV81x8YvOZsFwA0WKecITNcMFE2eft~Vy-LH6aTB3zjiS9p97MqmzPE5dZ~GQB9USUaQvpgw-E8oRQy~Vsqnr3KoA0aAbe-P3l7LNrUhegxDzf--YwoTpdTlOQLbATaIhPs3OdR0z6rERLlOQat11URmft87s3hTVSOqTuI3SEVaB1urMW6xY7~VfqdTlVQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Joint Budget Committee on May 20 approved a package of staff recommendations for the Department of Labor and Employment that included a substantial reworking of the unemployment insurance (UI) funding mechanism, technical spending-authority changes for newly created enterprises, and several 1-time transfers.

Phoebe Kanagaraja, JBC staff analyst, walked members through a complex staff recommendation (R1) to fix omissions from last year’s UI funding bill (HB 24-1409) and to address an anticipated $21.7–$26.2 million shortfall over the coming fiscal years. The package the committee approved reallocates some administrative and technology costs into enterprise funds while raising spending authority for the newly formed UI enterprise funds. The committee also asked CDLE to respond to a request for information about a step-down / cost-containment plan for temporary staff and how UI administration staffing will be reduced post-pandemic.

R1 passed on a 6–0 voice vote after staff framed the proposal as both a technical fix to last year’s legislation and a way to limit general-fund exposure for recurring UI administrative costs. Kanagaraja told the committee staff recommended partial approval: moving central administrative costs to enterprise funds (renamed as the UI support fund) and creating a dedicated line item for UI tech spending, while denying some programmatic changes the department had proposed as non-urgent.

Other staff motions in the EDO and UI area were approved in quick succession. Among the votes recorded in the hearing transcript:

- R1 (Unemployment insurance funding expansion and realignment): approved, 6–0. The motion adopted staff’s partial-approval approach including moving centrally appropriated admin and tech costs into enterprise funds and increasing spending authority for UI technology/admin funds with an RFI to document step-down plans.
- BA2 (Executive Director’s Office letter note realignment): approved, 6–0. Staff redistributed centrally appropriated costs to align with FTE supported by cash funds.
- BA3 (Colorado Disability Opportunity Office request — FTE approved, additional grant authority denied): approved as modified, 6–0; committee approved 1 FTE for budgeting/accounting support, denied the additional $2 million in new grant authority and requested an RFI on grant performance.
- BA4 (Lease-space technical correction): approved, 6–0.
- SIA2 (Staff-initiated 15% ongoing general-fund reduction to payments to OIT): approved, 6–0.
- SI4 (Staff-initiated sweep: Build Up grant fund general-fund sweep): approved, 6–0 (swept remaining uncommitted funds of roughly $222,000).
- Line item detail and base appropriation for the Executive Director’s Office: approved, 4–2 (Kirkmeyer and Taggart objecting). The committee approved the staff line-item package while flagging several items for further follow-up.

Kanagaraja told the committee the division’s November 1 supplemental request and other prior materials had already surfaced many potential cuts; staff’s package tries to balance fiscal responsibility with the department’s operational needs, including the risk of an influx of federal layoffs that could increase UI workloads. Committee members repeatedly pressed the department for a detailed plan showing how temporary staff hired for the pandemic-era workload will be reduced through attrition rather than abrupt layoffs.

In addition to those formal votes, the committee discussed and approved numerous technical changes, sweeps of one-time grant transfers and other staff-initiated adjustments across the department. The committee also left one item — a proposed pause or reallocation of the hospitality-education grant program — marked as pending while it coordinates with broader education funding decisions.

Ending: The JBC approved staff recommendations on a series of figure-setting items and required CDLE to supply additional RFIs on UI staffing and on selected grant programs. Committee members signaled they expect further follow-up material in the coming weeks prior to the long bill.","The Joint Budget Committee on May 20 approved a package of staff recommendations for the Department of Labor and Employment figure-setting process, including a restructuring of unemployment insurance funding and multiple line-item adjustments.","actionData","errors"]

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CDOT warns planned cuts could imperil construction projects, urges two-year limit and spending authority for multimodal funds

Joint Budget Committee adopts staff recommendations for Department of Labor and Employment figure setting, approves UI funding realignment and multiple line‑by‑