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Committee declines to advance repeal of adult dental fund this year amid reserve and legal concerns
Summary
Members decided not to move forward with repealing the adult dental fund at this meeting, citing uncertainty about next fiscal year reserves and a pending court case over unclaimed property that could affect the fund; staff said leaving the repeal off the agenda would free up general fund because of reserve accounting.
The Joint Budget Committee opted not to move forward with repealing the adult dental fund at this meeting, citing concern about next fiscal‑year revenue and reserve impacts.
JBC staffer Mr. Kurtz flagged the item and committee members questioned readiness to act. Craig Harper, JBC staff, explained committee balance assumptions: by moving $74,000,000 from unclaimed property into general fund to support adult dental services, the state would incur an additional 15 percent reserve requirement on that amount under TABOR assumptions. Harper said if the committee does not enact the repeal and the $74 million remains in unclaimed property, that would free up general fund otherwise counted against reserve requirements.
Committee members also noted a pending court case about unclaimed property. Pierce Lively, Office of Legislative Legal Services, said the latest court decision addressed standing and was not a merits ruling; he said a merits ruling could conceivably reduce the balance available in the unclaimed property trust fund, which in turn could affect the state's ability to transfer those funds for other purposes. Lively recommended legal follow‑up as the case proceeds.
Given the fiscal uncertainty and legal questions, the committee said it would not run the repeal bill this year and agreed to keep the item “warm” for the future. No introduction or vote on the repeal occurred at this meeting.
Ending: Committee decided to postpone action on adult dental repeal for the year and to monitor the unclaimed property court proceedings and fiscal assumptions before reconsidering.
