Colorado Joint Budget Committee moves dozens of technical budget items, advances CBMS funding and capital transfers, OKs DOC change to use Centennial South beds

The Joint Budget Committee on March 25 approved a series of technical budget “comebacks,” capital and IT transfers and several draft bills, advanced a clarified funding add‑on tied to CBMS development and agreed to limited changes allowing the Department of Corrections to use Centennial South’s C Tower temporarily while Sterling prison upgrades proceed.

Why it matters: The committee’s actions tidy a range of line‑item technical fixes and move multiple capital and IT projects forward in the long‑bill package while adding a targeted funding correction for CBMS development that increases the state general‑fund exposure. The committee also approved a constrained change to a proposed DOC bill that could create short‑term housing capacity but left a $1.8 million appropriation and further cost risks for later review.

The committee front‑loaded a handful of fiscally material decisions and otherwise cleared many technical items the JBC staff identified in the “periwinkle” comeback packet. Most motions passed unanimously; a few procedural items drew a single dissent.

Key actions and outcomes - CBMS (DHS / HCPF) comeback: Staff identified roughly $1.9 million in reappropriated funds tied to CBMS development that had not been captured in earlier comeback material and recommended recognizing the DHS share (about 47% of the reappropriated total) and a roughly $919,000 additional general‑fund impact to implement the committee’s prior approval. The committee adopted staff’s technical correction and motion (staff recommendation for HICCUF/CMS comeback number 34); motion passed 6–0. (Evidence: committee discussion and vote on the technical CBMS comeback, committee transcript.)

- Hospitality Education Grant (ProStart): The committee accepted staff’s annualization correction for CDLE’s R4 Hospitality Education Grant Program, reducing the recommended appropriation from $500,000 back toward last year’s level (approved figure: $424,037). The committee moved the program forward in CDLE but at the reduced amount; motion passed 6–0.

- Healthcare Policy & Financing personal‑services reductions: The panel resolved a timing/technical dispute about overlapping personal‑services cuts. The committee instructed staff to reflect departments’ BA‑17 reductions and then take the delta to reach the committee’s 1.5% personal‑services common policy rather than double‑counting volunteered FTE reductions; motion to adopt the committee’s discussed approach passed 6–0.

- Fleet and IT asset maintenance (DPA / DNR): The committee accepted a staff recommendation that DPA absorb a small fleet calculation correction within existing appropriations and accepted a net‑neutral correction to a department error. Motion passed 6–0.

- Tobacco revenue forecast adjustment: Committee accepted a staff recommendation to align the Tobacco Master Settlement Fund appropriation with the OSPB March forecast (a cash‑fund increase of about $84,000); motion passed 6–0.

- Capital construction: The committee approved a prioritized CDC list with controlled maintenance at the top, removed two large projects from the CDC list (the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind West Hall renovation and the Arkansas Valley shower project) and approved funding for the remaining controlled maintenance items and the Denver Reception & Diagnostic Center fire protection system. The committee approved a transfer into the capital construction bill for $129,000,498.33 plus the usual $500,000 general‑fund‑exempt transfer to capital construction; motion passed 6–0.

- IT capital: The committee approved cash‑funded IT capital projects and, after debate, approved general‑fund IT capital projects prioritized by the JTC. The committee added the DOC pharmacy IT project to IT capital (the project was previously in DOC operating and is being shifted to IT capital); members later refined the fiscal estimate for the DOC pharmacy change (committee recorded an updated staff calculation in the follow‑up memo). The committee also authorized staff de minimis adjustments to the IT transfer as final numbers settle; the motions passed (cash fund projects 6–0; the general‑fund IT capital motion passed 5–1 with Representative Taggart recorded as objecting to the general‑fund package).

- Department of Corrections, Sterling/C‑Tower change and staff drafting authority: After detailed operational questions and a staff memo, the committee approved a substantive change to the bill authorizing temporary use of Centennial South C Tower beds while Sterling’s access‑control project proceeds. The committee added a proviso directing DOC to use vacancies in state facilities first “to the extent practicable,” set a sunset/administrative review (committee discussed a June 30, 2027 repeal of the authority as one option) and asked staff to check DOC about potential transportation cost impacts before introduction. The committee granted staff authority to amend the draft as discussed; motion passed 6–0. Committee staff flagged that the appropriation to enable Centennial South use is about $1.8 million (one‑time retrofit) and that transportation or other operating costs could require supplemental requests later.

- TABOR emergency reserve and SURF timing change: The committee adopted the governor’s and staff’s recommended TABOR emergency‑reserve designations (a package of cash‑fund and capital‑asset designations that refills the statutory reserve under the March OSPB forecast). That motion passed 5–1 (Senator Bridges recorded as objecting). Separately, the committee approved a technical change to move a previously approved transfer (the State Employee Reserve Fund / “SURF” balance transfer) forward by 24 hours from July 1 to June 30 so the year‑end accounting avoids a temporary statutory reserve shortfall; motion passed 6–0.

Bills and introductions: batch approvals and drafting directions The committee approved introduction (or approved content and directed drafting) for a large set of JBC bills and placeholders spanning education, health, corrections, transportation, and other subject areas. The committee held a series of grouped introduction votes rather than voting on every individual draft in isolation; the committee approved the set of draft introductions discussed on the record (motions recorded in the transcript). A partial list of bills discussed/approved for introduction or drafting (committee action: approved for introduction or drafting as noted) includes: - Repeal / annualize R4 Hospitality Education Grant Program — annualization technical correction (approved, motion 6–0). - HICCUF/CBMS technical comeback (approved, motion 6–0). - Multiple education bills (Healthy School Meals, college opportunity items, school finance cleanup items) — content and introduction votes recorded on the record; committee moved the set to drafting/introduction as described in transcript. - Capital/IT/Corrections bills: CDC prioritized capital projects list (approved, motion 6–0), IT capital cash funds (approved 6–0), general‑fund IT capital projects (approved 5–1), DOC pharmacy IT project moved into IT capital (approved, motion 6–0), statute and technical cleanups related to transfers (approved or sent to draft as recorded). - A set of public‑safety and criminal‑justice technical bills (repeals, over‑expenditure cleanup, DOC reporting) — approved for drafting/introduction as recorded.

What the committee did not adopt: The committee did not introduce any substantive permanent expansion without specific appropriation; many repeal and technical cleanup bills were approved for introduction or sent to draft. Several items were deferred for further drafting or negotiation between staff and departments, and JBC staff and the governor’s office will continue to reconcile fiscal notes and final text before the long bill is finalized.

Staff follow‑up and fiscal notes Committee staff and the governor’s office were asked to confirm a small number of remaining fiscal‑note uncertainties before final long‑bill drafting: in particular, DOC transportation risk related to Sterling bed moves; an updated DOC pharmacy IT cost detail; and final accounting for several transfers and tax‑credit impacts in the OSPB forecast. Staff were authorized to make de minimis transfer adjustments to the IT transfer bill as final numbers settle.

Ending: The committee recessed after completing the day’s decisions and delegated multiple drafting tasks to staff; committee members signaled intent to reconvene to finish long‑bill balancing and to consider any remaining open items before sending the long bill to print.