JBC warns $252.7 million shortfall; recommends targeted supplementals, guardrails for CBI testing

Rep. Rick Taggart, a member of the Joint Budget Committee, told a caucus that Colorado faces a $252,700,000 general‑fund shortfall for fiscal 2024–25 and outlined the committee's recommended supplemental actions and priorities.

The shortfall is driven primarily by health‑care related supplementals, Taggart said. "I have been saying in caucus meetings ... it is actually 252,700,000," he said, adding that the committee will likely tap the state's reserve and try to reduce the gap through figure setting and the long bill but that "I don't know where we're gonna get that" in the final four months of the year.

The briefing summarized major supplemental recommendations and urgent requests the committee considered for the upcoming long bill and figure setting. Taggart emphasized procedural notes for members: amendments to the supplementals were due by 4:00 p.m. that day and, he said, "it's really important to understand that amendments are confidential."

Why it matters: The shortfall and the committee's supplemental recommendations affect hospitals, community health centers, K‑12 districts and public safety operations across Colorado. Several items are described as entitlement or census‑driven, meaning the state has statutory or programmatic obligations that limit discretion to decline spending.

Key details and committee recommendations

- Healthcare and Medicaid: Taggart pointed to two supplemental lines totaling $153.8 million and $84.6 million in healthcare‑related changes, driven in part by Medicaid expenditures. He called Medicaid an "entitlement program" and said those amounts are a large component of the shortfall. The presentation also called out program‑level increases in the current supplemental package: Medicaid general fund $55,900,000; behavioral health $12,600,000; Office of Community Living (home‑and‑community waiver services) $9,300,000; school health services $17,600,000 (noted as likely without a general‑fund share); and health benefits for uninsured immigrant children $13,900,000. Taggart warned that failing to fund immigrant‑children health benefits would shift costs to federally qualified health centers and hospitals, increasing uncompensated care.

- Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) testing backlog: The JBC recommended roll‑forward authority of $3,000,000 through the end of fiscal 2024–25 to let CBI contract with third‑party labs and reduce a backlog of sexual‑assault and violent‑crime evidence kits. Taggart said the backlog was more than 500 days and that the department seeks to bring it down to about 100 days; committee members put emphasis on adding guardrails and accountability before approving extended roll‑forward timeframes. Taggart said JBC removed a Senate amendment that would have allowed roll‑forward through Feb. 19, 2026, calling that "carte blanche" and saying the committee wants to see progress before extending authority.

- Judiciary and defense counsel: The briefing recommended $2,800,000 for the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel (OADC) to handle increased caseloads when public defender conflicts occur, citing higher-than-expected demand.

- State Public Defender cybersecurity: The supplemental package includes a $714,000 general‑fund recommendation to improve cybersecurity at the State Public Defender's Office to protect client information. Taggart described the need as meeting the committee's urgency criteria rather than routine long‑bill business.

- Public safety fleet and IT: The Department of Public Safety has a $1.1 million supplemental recommendation that combines IT and fleet‑vehicle true‑ups; committee members asked whether all replacements are urgent or could be phased.

- Department of Personnel / Office of Information Technology: A supplemental recommendation of roughly $604,000 was highlighted as an overrun tied to real‑time IT cost estimates; the department's broader reappropriated funds were noted at about $221,000,000 for centralized services.

- K‑12 funding: The JBC recommended a $64,100,000 supplemental for K‑12. Taggart said about $38,500,000 is to account for about 3,000 more students in the recent census than previously budgeted, and $25,600,000 is to offset lower‑than‑expected local property‑tax revenue. He described the pupil‑count adjustment as occurring after the averaging process and as a final correction for the October census.

Discussion and follow‑up: Committee members pressed for additional detail on some items. On CBI, several members urged guardrails and accountability after learning some originally appropriated funds were not used to outsource testing as earlier directed. On the cybersecurity request, members sought a description of the specific threat and whether the need was emergent or could wait for the long bill; Taggart said JBC staff had vetted the request and met the committee's urgency criteria. On vehicle replacements, members questioned whether replacements could be phased instead of replaced all at once; Taggart noted the committee's authority is governed by statute on replacement criteria.

Ending: Taggart closed by encouraging members to raise detailed questions offline with JBC members and staff and said the committee was monitoring these matters closely as figure setting approaches.