Lawmakers review supplemental budget bills to adjust current fiscal year spending

At a legislative caucus meeting, Joint Budget Committee members walked caucus members through a package of supplemental budget bills that would adjust spending for the current fiscal year across nearly every state department, including Corrections, Health Care Policy and Financing, Human Services, Education and Natural Resources.

The supplements correct forecast errors and respond to unanticipated costs, caseload changes and technical accounting adjustments, committee members said. Representative Byrd summarized the process: “This is our first best opportunity to make corrections or true ups,” and described the supplemental process as part of the legislature’s work to keep the fiscal-year budget current.

The most substantial single item discussed was a Medicaid overexpenditure for fiscal year 2023–24. Representative Byrd told members that Medicaid is an entitlement and that the state spent more than budgeted in 2023–24; the supplemental would release a controller lock to allow the budget to cover about $223,700,000 in prior-year Medicaid obligations. Byrd also said the department would seek adjustments across multiple Medicaid line items — medical services premiums, behavioral health, the Office of Community Living, public school health services, child health plans (CHIP), and other programs — to reflect higher-than-expected enrollment and utilization.

Corrections was a second focus. The supplemental for the Department of Corrections would increase general fund for campus food costs and for inmate phone-call expenses driven by statutory requirements, and would include Office of Information Technology (OIT) true-ups tied to contracted IT services. The bill contains several caseload adjustments: a $2,300,000 general fund reduction reflecting an overforecast for male prison population and a $1,500,000 general fund downward adjustment for female prison caseload, described as accounting and forecast corrections rather than physical bed reductions. Other changes discussed included a $750,000 one-time reduction tied to utilities, an identified $742,000 annual savings by integrating a staff mentorship effort into existing duties, and a $427,000 reduction related to a virtual-reality program that encountered security and operational barriers.

Committee members stressed that many supplements reflect the mechanics of a forecast-driven budget. “Our budget is not a static document,” Byrd said, describing the supplemental bills as a way to “allow our budget to be a living document and meet the needs of the people in our state.” Multiple members noted that OIT’s shift to real-time billing — charging agencies for the actual level of IT services delivered — produced line-item true-ups across departments, with a mix of upward and downward adjustments; one committee member reported an aggregate net decrease of roughly $1,500,000 from OIT in the package.

Other department-level items described in the briefing included: - Human Services: a net increase of roughly $4,600,000 in total funds for adoption and relative guardianship assistance (an entitlement), a $1,500,000 general fund reduction tied to a delayed opening of Fort Logan’s G wing (the delay moves some months of personnel and operating funding into a future budget), and smaller caseload-driven reductions in youth services and mental-health screening contracts. Representatives clarified the Fort Logan adjustment represents recapturing funding for months the facility will not be open now; the overall annual operating estimate for the 16 beds planned at Fort Logan was discussed as about $6,900,000. - Judicial: multiple increases including $2,800,000 general fund for the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel because of rising conflict-of-interest referrals for the State Public Defender, funds for contract interpreters, and investments in court IT and cybersecurity. - Public Safety: a footnote amendment directing accelerated DNA testing to address a backlog of sexual-assault kits and a $1,100,000 cash-fund authority for multidisciplinary crime-prevention and crisis-intervention grants. - Natural Resources: an expansion of a pilot to equip Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers with body-worn cameras, converting pilot funding into a full contract and adding a partial FTE funded by cash funds. - Higher Education and Capital Construction: truing up various institutional and capital-project funds, including spending authority adjustments for History Colorado, community-college renovation projects, and a design-phase appropriation for Fort Lyon heating replacement. - Repeal of the Financial Literacy Exchange (FLEX) program: lawmakers proposed repealing the 2022 program and transferring unexpended funds back to the general fund after legislators said no households had enrolled and administrators could not provide required case management with available resources.

Representative Byrd said members who plan to offer amendments must submit them by 04:00 today to committee staff. He asked members to notify staff in advance if they intend to offer amendments so staff can prepare.

No formal floor votes or final outcomes on the supplemental bills were recorded in the briefing; committee members repeatedly framed the session as an explanation of recommended supplemental legislation that will appear as single bills per department during second-reading action.

The caucus session concluded after the presenters answered clarifying questions about specific line items and accounting mechanics.