House Appropriations advances seven bills, sends measures to Committee of the Whole

The House Appropriations Committee advanced seven bills at a morning meeting, forwarding each to the Committee of the Whole with favorable recommendations. Votes ranged from unanimous approval to narrow margins, and sponsors adopted several technical amendments on the floor.

Why it matters: The committee controls whether funding and budget-related policy changes proceed to full consideration by the House. The seven bills affect state agencies' budgets and procedures, including the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), judicial staffing for the Seventh Judicial District, an appropriation and reporting requirements for expedited DNA kit processing, and a technical change to the TABOR population-growth calculation used to compute the state spending limit.

House Bill 1005 (sponsor: Majority Leader Duran and Rep. Titone) was presented with no committee questions or sponsor amendments. The chair thanked OEDIT for working with the committee and said OEDIT “think[s] that they can make this work without any new FTE” if the state is awarded the Sundance Film Festival. The committee moved HB1005 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; the motion passed 8–2 with one member excused.

House Bill 1094 (sponsors: Reps. Brown and Johnson) likewise drew no committee amendments. The committee moved HB1094 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; the motion passed 8–2 with one excused.

House Bill 1154 (sponsors: Rep. Brown and Rep. Froelich) included sponsor-requested amendments to address a continuous-appropriation issue. Sponsors asked the committee to adopt two amendments (identified in the packet as L3 and J2); the committee adopted L003 and J002 on voice vote before forwarding the bill. The motion to send HB1154 as amended to the Committee of the Whole passed 7–3 with one excused.

House Bill 1174 (sponsors: Rep. Brown and Chair Sirota) had a floor amendment (J1) adopted by unanimous voice vote. The amended bill was moved to the Committee of the Whole and passed on a roll call, 6–5.

Senate Bill 24 (sponsors: Reps. Carter and Soper) included language that would make additional judges positions subject to available appropriations; committee discussion clarified these would be ongoing positions rather than temporary hires. The committee agreed not to adopt an additional appropriation prepared in the packet and maintained the Senate agreement to not increase the appropriation for the item discussed. The committee forwarded SB24 unanimously to the Committee of the Whole.

Senate Bill 170 (committee of reference; sponsors: vice chair and chair) codifies a supplemental-process footnote related to the Department of Public Safety and roll-forward authority to expedite DNA kit processing. The vice chair said the bill was intended to give the footnote the “weight of law” to increase transparency and reporting and to hold the department accountable. Representative Luck asked whether dashboard and administrative costs for the reporting would create new department costs; the vice chair and staff confirmed the fiscal note assumes those administrative costs will be paid from the $3,000,000 appropriation. The committee moved SB170 with a favorable recommendation and passed it unanimously.

Senate Bill 180 (sponsors: Rep. Taggart and Chair Sirota) makes a technical change to how the state calculates the TABOR limit growth factor by changing which population estimates are used in the year‑to‑year comparison. Joint Budget Committee staff explained the current approach compares two December population estimates without anchoring the change to the prior year’s end point; the bill would start next‑year calculations from the population estimate used in the prior year’s calculation. Craig Harper of Joint Budget Committee staff summarized the intent: “What this bill is trying to do is say for this year for the current year's TABOR growth estimate, we based that on a population estimate at the end of last year and that was our end point… we're trying to get to where the ending point of last year's calculation is the starting point of the change.” Greg Sebesky, chief economist with Legislative Council Staff, told the committee the change “would result in a more representative TABOR limit for the state.” The committee moved SB180 to the Committee of the Whole; the motion passed 8–3.

Votes at a glance - HB1005 — Moved to Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; vote: 8–2, 1 excused. - HB1094 — Moved to Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; vote: 8–2, 1 excused. - HB1154 — Amendments L003 and J002 adopted; bill moved as amended to Committee of the Whole; vote: 7–3, 1 excused. - HB1174 — Amendment J1 adopted; bill moved to Committee of the Whole; vote: 6–5. - SB24 — Committee of reference forwarded to Committee of the Whole unanimously; sponsors and staff agreed not to adopt an additional appropriation in committee. - SB170 — Codifies reporting requirements and roll‑forward authority for expedited DNA kit processing; fiscal note assumes administrative/dashboard costs will be covered from the appropriation; moved unanimously. - SB180 — Changes TABOR population‑growth methodology; moved to Committee of the Whole; vote: 8–3.

Next steps: Each bill will be considered by the Committee of the Whole. Several measures included sponsor‑filed technical amendments adopted on the floor; sponsors and staff said they would remain available to answer further questions as the measures proceed.