Appropriations advances supplemental bills across state agencies; health, schools and capital items highlighted

The House Appropriations Committee advanced Senate Bills 88 through 115 to the Committee of the Whole with favorable recommendations on a series of recorded votes. Most bills were routine technical or budgetary true‑ups tied to state agencies, but several included substantive funding changes highlighted during committee discussion.

Key items and committee action

- Senate Bill 93 (Department of Health Care Policy and Financing): The committee was told the bill contains a net increase of $324,200,000 in total funds to account for medical services premiums, behavioral health, office of community living, school health services, and other adjustments, including ARPA reallocations for home‑and‑community‑based services and funding tied to a Department of Justice settlement for ADA compliance. The bill passed on a vote of 8‑3.

- Senate Bill 113 (K‑12 funding adjustments): The bill provides a $64.1 million supplemental for the school finance formula driven by census changes (about $38.5 million) and reduced local property tax revenue offsets (about $25.6 million). The committee advanced the bill; the recorded vote was 10‑1.

- Senate Bill 111 (capital construction): The supplemental included multiple capital items, among them funding for Arapahoe Community College renovations, two phases of renovation at Trinidad State College's Freudenthal Library, and roughly $796,000 for Fort Lyon decentralized building heating to address an imminent heating system failure. The committee advanced the bill unanimously.

- Senate Bill 105 (Department of Public Safety / CBI backlog): Committee adopted amendment J002 to strip roll‑forward authority pending guardrails, then advanced SB105 as amended 9‑2. (SB105 is the subject of a separate, detailed article.)

- Senate Bill 102 (Department of Natural Resources): The bill included cash‑fund authority and 0.8 FTE from parks and wildlife funds to scale a body‑worn camera pilot for Colorado Parks and Wildlife law enforcement; committee members asked whether the pilot was statutory and discussed data‑storage costs. The bill passed 8‑3.

- Senate Bill 96 (Judicial Department): Included funding increases for the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel, contract interpreters, courthouse facility grants from the Underfunded Courthouse Facilities Cash Fund, and IT cybersecurity improvements for the state public defender; passed 9‑2.

Other votes and routine adjustments

Many bills were technical or reflected budgetary impacts from central services (Office of Information Technology or Department of Personnel). Several passed unanimously, including SB89 (Corrections adjustments for food inflation, phone call costs and technical corrections), SB95 (Human Services technical and caseload corrections), SB97 (Labor and Employment technical adjustments), SB98 (Department of Law technical corrections), SB107 (Revenue technical decrease), SB114 (repeal of an underused Financial Literacy and Exchange Program, returning approximately $625,000 to the general fund), and others.

Votes at a glance (bill ' outcome — summary)

- SB88 — PASSED 7‑3 — Department of Agriculture fund‑source changes to limit general fund impact. - SB89 — PASSED unanimous — Department of Corrections: food inflation, phone calls, technical and caseload changes. - SB90 — PASSED 8‑2 — Department of Early Childhood indirect cost true‑up (no general fund impact). - SB91 — PASSED unanimous — Department of Education accounting changes (net decrease $112,232 total funds). - SB92 — PASSED 9‑1 — Governor's office: $208,890 GF for IT services. - SB93 — PASSED 8‑3 — Health Care Policy & Financing: net +$324.2M total funds, ARPA reallocations, DOJ settlement funding. - SB94 — PASSED 9‑2 — Higher Education cash fund increases and COP true‑ups for campuses. - SB95 — PASSED unanimous — Human Services: adoption/guardianship assistance, Fort Logan unit delay, BHA adjustments. - SB96 — PASSED 9‑2 — Judicial Department: defense counsel, interpreters, virtual court system funding, cybersecurity. - SB97 — PASSED unanimous — Labor & Employment: disabled parking education fund increase and technicals. - SB98 — PASSED unanimous — Department of Law technical decrease (~$1.2M total funds). - SB99 — PASSED 8‑3 — Legislative branch IT services increase. - SB100 — PASSED 8‑3 — Department of Local Affairs budget true‑up. - SB101 — PASSED 10‑1 — Military & Veterans Affairs: small total funds increase for OIT and fleet costs. - SB102 — PASSED 8‑3 — Natural Resources: cash fund appropriation and 0.8 FTE for a body‑worn camera pilot. - SB103 — PASSED 8‑3 — Department of Personnel fleet and IT cost adjustments. - SB104 — PASSED 8‑3 — Public Health & Environment: landfill remediation grant adjustments and OIT decrease. - SB105 — PASSED 9‑2 — Public Safety/CBI DNA backlog (as amended; roll‑forward authority removed by J002). - SB106 — PASSED 9‑2 — Department of Regulatory Agencies OIT and personnel cost adjustments. - SB107 — PASSED unanimous — Department of Revenue OIT‑driven cash fund decrease (~$585K). - SB108 — PASSED 10‑1 — Secretary of State: one‑time $54K cash fund for signature‑verification staffing. - SB109 — PASSED 9‑2 — Department of Transportation administrative/operations offsets. - SB110 — PASSED 10‑1 — Treasury unclaimed property postage and claims processing increases. - SB111 — PASSED unanimous — Capital construction projects, including Fort Lyon heating, college renovations. - SB112 — PASSED 8‑3 — IT projects for Health Care Policy & Financing and Vocational Rehabilitation DVR system. - SB113 — PASSED 10‑1 — K‑12 funding adjustments totaling $64.1M (census and property tax changes). - SB114 — PASSED unanimous — Repeal of underused Financial Literacy and Exchange program (Flex); ~$625K return to GF. - SB115 — PASSED 9‑2 — Roll‑forward authority for Colorado State Forest Service Seedling Tree Nursery.

What to watch next

- SB93 (HCPF) and SB113 (K‑12) are the largest dollar items and may receive additional scrutiny or floor debate as the bills move through the House and into conference. - SB105 (CBI DNA backlog) now proceeds with amendment J002; committee leaders said they will work with advocates and staff to draft targeted guardrails should roll‑forward authority be restored.