April 22, 2026 · Appropriations · 2,986 words · 9 speakers · 137 segments
. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The Senate Committee on Appropriations will come to order. Mr. McClure, please call the roll.
Senators Gonzalez. Present.
Kirkmeyer. Here.
Colker. Here.
Liston. Here.
Pelton. Mr. President. Mr. Vice Chair.
Yep. Madam Chair. Here. Okay. We are going to start with Senate Bill 149, and Senator Simpson is here, and me. And so, I don't know, Mr. Vice Chair, do you want to take over? We'll see how that goes. We'll see how that goes.
Senator Mobile. I move Senate Bill 149, Amendment L48, and Amendment J001.
2L48. Any questions?
Senator Kirkmeyer. Chair.
Oh, sorry, I forgot.
Senator Kirkmeyer. All right. L48. I mean, we just got this. So, I mean, I kind of looked at it at, I don't know, it must have been midnight last night or whatever time, 11 o'clock something. So L48 is just for the general fund and the renovation of the Colorado Mental Health Hospital. It's not everything else, right? It's just that.
Senator Modley. Yes, this is just the capital outlays.
Okay. And we're only voting on 48.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Go ahead and dialogue. Thank you so much.
and we're only voting on 48 right now. Yes.
Okay. Fine.
Any further discussion of 48? Seeing none, any objection to L48? Seeing none, L48 is adopted. To J001, any discussion?
Senator Kirkmeyer. Okay. So thank you, Mr. Chair. So I understand, and, you know, we've been talking about through the Joint Budget Committee with regard to putting a set aside in place for everything that's needed at the Department of Human Services, you know, and the mental health institutions, the capital construction side of things. Totally fine with all of that. I am not fine with all of the increases for judicial and BHA. And I mean everything in the judicial branch and BHA, and I'm not even clear why HICPF needs additional dollars as well. I was trying to read through their fiscal note very quickly here and the impacts on why they, what the assumptions are from. So I am going to ask that we actually divide out and only do in the fiscal note right now the portions that are related to human services and the additional bed space. Because, and here's why, when reading through the fiscal note and when talking with the district attorney folks, it is important to understand that they're not anticipating that there are new cases. So it's the same amount of cases that are going to have to go through judicial. But my understanding is just again reading in the fiscal note that they're, and again they're saying that there is going to be an average of 24, 2,457 cases, competency raised a year on average 444 of those cases involve a defendant. Okay, so they're not saying any of that changes. But what they're saying is that they estimate 50% of these cases would qualify for a placement. I don't know why they need $7,326,041 for what might be qualifying for placement. I mean I understand why the placement's going to cost. I don't understand why courts think they need additional stuff. And I don't understand additional funding and additional FTE. Same with HICPF and even BHA. They can go through the regular budget process and let's see where we're at next year. But I'm not willing to just increase them for this year.
Sarah Movilek. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, let me just say that this J Amendment actually comes in at $1.3 million less than the fiscal note, and most of that is coming from judicial. The bill does add additional court oversight on these cases where the person is PITP and dangerous for these enhanced placements. So it's reasonable to me that there is some additional cost for judicial, but I agree with you. I think the $7 million seems quite out of line, and we will definitely continue to work on this. This, the fiscal note for the bill and the J amendment do come in below the legislative set aside. And by, I think it's at this point now, more than $2 million below the legislative set aside for the bill. The agencies do have additional workload for these pathways that we've created. And while I agree with you, these aren't new cases. They are going to be, instead of just being released to the streets, these individuals are going to get placed and somebody has to oversee that. And then there is, you know, judicial oversight over release from these placements. So there is additional work. And I understand the frustration. We do think that there are some ways to get the cost in BHA down. and there are definitely ways to get the cost in judicial down, and we will continue to work on that. And as I said, this J amendment does reduce those costs by $1.3 million.
Senator Kirkmeyer Thank you When we put that placeholder in place it wasn a target for them to try and hit I agree Well that what it looks like they trying to do Okay And that really ticks me off. I mean, you know, we've had this discussion with judicial as it is. Everyone in the judicial branch likes to come in and I think basically like almost pad their budgets or just keep adding on more staff and adding on more costs and more dollars. They have not decreased their budget amounts, even though we've been in a budget deficit. They've continually increased their budget substantially. And we've tried to pare that back as best we can, but they keep coming in and just insisting on more. It's not necessarily just the courts. It's all of them. And, you know, I don't know why they can't wait and see what really transpires as we go through this and go through the normal budget practice process.
Seeing no further discussion. The question is the adoption of J-001. Are there objections? Seeing objections, please poll the committee. Senators Gonzalez.
Aye.
Kirk Meyer.
No.
Colker.
Aye.
Liston.
No.
Helton.
No.
Mr. Vice Chair.
Aye.
Madam Chair. Aye. That amendment is adopted four to three to the bill. Any further discussion? Senator Kirkmeyer.
So I want to know how much farther we're going to get this down. Because seriously, them coming in and asking for 24 FTE, I mean, I don't think they have a clue what's going to happen here. And I don't understand why they think they should be putting this in a fiscal note at this point. I think it's outrageous. I think BHA putting in that they need three FTE to go out and do what? Contract services? Because they don't actually provide any services. That's not what the BHA does, as you and I both know. And so, and even HICPF, adding on another three FTE for what? There's no reason they aren't doing this within their appropriations that they already have.
Senator Mavale.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, I understand the frustration, and we are committed. I do not, as a member of the Joint Budget Committee, I do not want us to spend one penny more or allocate one penny more to this than it needs. and a lot of people have worked really hard to put these numbers together, including our JBC staff and the fiscal analyst. And so I am committed to continuing to work on this. It has to go through appropriations again in the House, and I think we will make some significant progress on getting those costs down, but I would be very uncomfortable trying to run the bill with no J amendment. So we'll be looking at it, and I think everyone in the room who's connected to this particular bill is committed to making sure we land at the right number on terms of the appropriation. But I will just reiterate, no, I don't think anybody was operating like, okay, here's how much money is in this set aside. That's how much money we're going to spend. I just don't think anybody did that. But I understand your skepticism.
Senator Kolker.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. To the point of the amount that was in the set-aside and the amount that the J Amendment is reducing, you said $2 million. Is that just the total amount below the legislative set-aside, or is there more that we're missing just on that J Amendment?
Senator Mabalai.
Okay. Okay, so the set aside was $32,850,000 for 25,26 and 26,27. The general fund in the fiscal note is $31,833,758. And then I was just, you know, told that this J amendment is 1.3 million less than the fiscal note. So it's $30,500,000, and we had allocated or we had set aside $32,850,000.
Senator Kirkmeyer.
I think that Senator Amobly and Senator Simpson have done a yeoman's job of getting this bill put together. And, you know, I've been with you with this throughout the whole thing, supporting this and having an understanding of this. I just was a little shocked last night when I'm looking at judicial and what they were needing. I mean, when we talked about this at the Joint Budget Committee, it was always about on the placements and the number of beds that we were going to need because of the additional beds. And now all of a sudden here we are with this huge fiscal note. I mean, I was assuming we were going to still need even more money for the bed placement. We know we need more money for the consent decree. issue that we have as well. So I just think it's outrageous that these assumptions that have come in, when there aren't going to be new cases, there will be new placement things, and maybe some new things that they have to do, that they are putting in these huge dollar amounts right off the top. I just think that's outrageous. And I do want to say that I think our staff at the JBC has done a great job as well. I'm immensely proud of the work that our staff did, that the JBC staff did to get this pulled together. I mean, it's kind of difficult for all of us. We just get it pretty late at night. But I'm not blaming anybody on the staff because I know they got all the information kind of late as well and they're trying to put everything together as much as they can, not to mention the budget and everything else they've been putting together. So I appreciate all of that. I just think this is very typical of judicial, BHA, and HICPF, to continually add on additional staff every opportunity they get. And then we find out they have huge vacancies in those departments, which means they're taking these personal services money and using it someplace else or using it for other things other than what was identified in fiscal notes throughout the year. That's what ticks me off. And that's why I don't trust the fiscal note and the assumptions or whatever, not necessarily the assumptions, but the fiscal note and the comments that come from these departments because that's how it's been. So I will continue to fight this on the floor. And I'll be looking to try and do amendments to get the fiscal note down. And they better be looking for ways to get the fiscal note down as well. Because this is outrageous. And I'm just going to remind everybody, we have not closed the budget yet. And we are having a hard time figuring out how to balance that budget at this point. So it's, this isn't over. And I, they just need to understand this isn't just a free for all, come in and ask for everything you possibly can think of. Because that's what it looks like to me from the judicial branch and from BHA and healthcare policy and finance.
Sarah Colker. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I too am concerned about some of these numbers as I didn't receive this in time to review. I will be a yes today. We'll love to work with the sponsor and seeing how we are reducing that fiscal note for the floor. Thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none, the question is the adoption of Senate Bill 149. Oh, Senator Liston.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I, too, didn't get this last night because maybe it's sitting on my desk. I just thought I will respectfully be a no this morning until I can kind of look this over and I'm willing to listen and learn from everybody. But this is 38 pages that I haven't even had a chance to look at. So it's a respectful no.
Respectful no. Excellent. Which you're about to give right now, seeing no further discussion. Please poll the committee. Senators Gonzalez.
Aye.
Kirkmeyer.
Aye.
Colker.
Aye.
Liston.
Respectfully, no.
Pelton.
Aye.
Mr. Vice Chair.
Respectfully, aye.
Madam Chair Aye That bill passes 6 respectfully Okay.
It's ridiculous.
Next up, we will hear House Bill 1003, Senator Colker.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move House Bill 1003.
Committee members, do you have any questions about House Bill 1003? Seeing none, the question before us is the adoption of House Bill 1003. Mr. McLear, please poll the committee. Senators Gonzalez.
Aye.
Kirkmeyer.
Aye.
Colker.
Aye.
Liston.
Respectfully, yes.
Pelton. Aye. Mr. Vice-Chair. Aye. Madam Chair. Aye. That bill passes unanimously. It was on the consent calendar in committee, so, Mr. Vice-Chair. May I suggest the consent calendar? Seeing no objections, the bill will be on the consent calendar. Next up, House Bill 1026, Senator Colker. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move House Bill 1026 to the Committee of the Whole.
Committee members, any questions on House Bill 1026?
Seeing none, the question before us is the adoption of House Bill 1026. Mr. McClure, please poll the committee. Senators Gonzalez.
Aye.
Kirkmeyer.
Aye.
Kolker.
Aye.
Liston.
Another respectfully yes.
Helton.
Regretfully aye.
Mr. Vice Chair.
Disrespectfully, aye.
Madam Chair. Aye. That bill passes unanimously. That could also go on the consent calendar. Senator Kolker?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I do recommend the consent calendar.
Any objections? Seeing none, that will be on the consent calendar. Next up, we have House Bill 1051, and we have Senator Simpson back for a repeat of performance.
He never left. He never left.
Committee members, any questions on?
Wise move.
House Bill 1051. Seeing none, Mr. McClure, please poll the committee on the adoption of 1051. 1051?
Yeah.
Can anybody move?
Oh.
No, didn't Senator Colker move 1051?
No.
Oh, I'm sorry, but you can't. So, Mr. Vice Chair. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I respectfully move House Bill 1051 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. There are no J amendments or L amendments.
Senator Kerkmeyer.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm wondering if the, not wondering, I would like for the Senate sponsor to explain the fiscal note.
Senator Simpson.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Senator Kirkmeyer, you want an explanation of the entire fiscal note? You may if you'd like, but if you'd just like to go to the dollar amounts, the $114,000, $115,000, and the 1.2 FTE and why that's in our packets, that would be great.
Senator Simpson.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator.
Kirkmeyer. So this is a continuation. This grant program was set to expire September of this year. So there's an existing employee administering grants. This really came about as a grant to San Miguel Electric Cooperative in the town of Rico for batteries in a microgrid that supply chain logistics have. They've been awarded the grant. It's about $660,000, but it's encumbered, but they can't use it because they can't get a hold of the batteries. So if the grant program ends in September, they have to give the $600,000 back. So we needed to continue the grant program long enough to finish out. I think there's at least one other encumbered grant program that needs to finish out, and it requires an administrator that's currently sitting there. But because it was going to expire, the original budget proposal would have had that employee leaving. were going to hang on to that employee and they're paid with federal dollars. I assumed when, because there was like $12 million of federal dollars flowed into this grant program and a fraction of that was available for administration. So the feds are paying to hang on to this person to finish out the grant program.
Senator Colker.
Thank you. And I just want to note that it does say that the bill continues costs that are paid from federal funds. So this is not a state expenditure. Is that correct?
Yes.
Senator Simpson, I'm sorry, Mr. Minority Leader.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Yes, Senator Cochlear, that's the case. Thank you.
Senator Kirkmeyer.
Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for the explanation from the Minority Leader. I just need to have you put that on record so nobody thinks I'm going easy on you just because you're the Minority Leader. We'll have a discussion later.
I look forward to it. Independently elected.
Mr. McClure, please poll the committee. Senators Gonzalez.
Aye.
Kirkmeyer.
Aye.
Kolker.
Aye.
Whiston.
Gladly, respectfully, yes.
Pelton.
Aye.
Mr. Vice Chair.
Pass.
Madam Chair. Aye. Mr. Vice Chair.
Aye.
That bill passes unanimously. Mr. Vice Chair, would you like to discuss the consent calendar? Thank you, Madam Chair.
I think it would be great for this to be on the consent calendar. I recommend it.
Any objections? Seeing none, this will be placed on the consent calendar. And that wraps up the business of the Senate Appropriations Committee. See you all on Friday.
Hey, it's better than judicial.
Thank you.
Thank you. .