JBC approves limited competency placements, sets aside broader DHS requests

The Joint Budget Committee weighed a sweeping Department of Human Services proposal to address people judged unlikely to be restored to competency (sometimes called PITP). Emily Pope, JBC staff, laid out multiple components including security upgrades at Wheat Ridge regional center, contracted skilled‑nursing beds, renovation at the Pueblo State Hospital, and a proposed state‑run outpatient clinic.

Pope recommended denial of the full package in the supplemental because the plan lacks legislative clarity, presents long‑term operating commitments and creates TABOR/cash‑fund accounting complications. She told the committee the administration's package could amount to several million dollars ongoing and include capital investments that take years to complete.

Lawmakers pressed the need for faster action for parts of the proposal — notably four Wheat Ridge security beds and a 10‑bed skilled‑nursing pilot — that would provide placements that courts and prosecutors say are currently scarce. After debate the committee adopted a compromise motion to approve a limited set of components now (security upgrades, targeted skilled‑nursing contracts and a scaled‑back staffing addition) and to put the remaining capital and operating elements, and a legislative placeholder, into a set‑aside for figure setting and for consideration alongside the bill the legislature is drafting. The motion passed unanimously, 6‑0.

Several members emphasized urgency: advocates and prosecutors have raised public‑safety concerns tied to long competency backlogs, while analysts cautioned the committee that capital projects and new operating obligations could create substantial ongoing Medicaid and General Fund liabilities.

The committee also voted to have DHS and JBC staff coordinate on precise scopes, timelines and operating costs so that figure setting can consider only well‑specified, legislatively authorized elements.