Polis and Budget Office outline $252 million in midyear cuts, tap reserves and cash funds to balance Colorado budget

Governor Jared Polis and state budget officials told the Joint Budget Committee on Aug. 28 that they will implement about $252 million in midyear reductions and transfers to close a revenue shortfall created largely by federal legislation known in the meeting as “HR 1.” Polis said the actions are expected to leave a modest surplus of $10 million to $15 million and keep the state reserve above 13 percent of General Fund appropriations.

The measures combine executive orders, statutory changes passed during the special session and cash‑fund transfers. The governor said the legislature’s recent fiscal changes, including closing corporate tax loopholes, reduced the scale of cuts needed and protected K‑12 funding and public safety.

Polis said the revenue loss from HR 1 and concurrent rolling federal conformity reduced state receipts by roughly $1.2 billion and created an eight‑to‑nine hundred million dollar budget hole for the current fiscal year. “For months, of course, we’ve been communicating with Coloradans and our members of Congress about the disaster that was HR 1,” Polis said. He added that the early action spreads the necessary reductions across more months of the…