Author stephanie
By John Frank THE COLORADO SUN In the final hours of the lawmaking session, the General Assembly finalized a $30.3 billion state budget after weeks of difficult work to close a $3 billion deficit. Instead of expressing relief at the finish line, the top legislative budget writer issued a warning. “For those of you who haven’t heard the
By Ed Sealover Things like Styrofoam bans took a back seat during the expedited session at the Capitol. Read more
By Marianne Goodland COLORADO POLITICS The School Finance Act — the most partisan in more than 20 years — passed the state Senate Thursday on a 20-15 vote. It picked up one “yes” vote from the Republican side, from Sen. Jack Tate of Centennial, along with the chamber’s 19 Democrats. The solitary “yes” vote repeats
By Jordan Chavez 9NEWS A lot of people are struggling to pay rent and Democratic Governor Jared Polis’ executive order protecting Coloradans from evictions is about to expire. State legislators are quickly working to make sure people who’ve been negatively impacted by COVID-19 get some money. Colorado state senators heard a second reading of a
By Ark Valley Voice Staff ARK VALLEY VOICE Bills Prioritize Personal and Economic Support for Vulnerable Communities Three critical bills for Coloradans passed the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on Wednesday. These bills use funds from the federal CARES Act to provide direct relief to Coloradans for housing assistance, utilities, mental health, and
By Bella Combest PAGOSA DAILY POST On Saturday, June 6, the Joint Budget Committee Vice-Chair Dominick Moreno and Senator Rachel Zenzinger released the following statements after the Senate passed Colorado’s long bill budget for FY20-21 (HB20-1360) on a vote of 24-9. “The impact of COVID-19 on Colorado’s fiscal health is almost incomprehensible,” said Sen. Moreno,
By Jenny Brundin CPR NEWS The coronavirus mauled Colorado’s state budget. Through tears and tough choices, House lawmakers have already passed the so-called long bill which takes a big bite out of education. It’s now the state Senate’s turn to wrangle with the line item jigsaw of cuts. The rest of June will be tough for school districts. They await
By Brian Eason THE COLORADO SUN For once, some good budget news. Colorado received a $111 million premium on a debt issuance of $500 million, thanks to strong investor demand for state-issued debt. As a result, budget writers say that $100 million in planned cuts to the Colorado Department of Transportation over the next two
By Amy Antonation WESTWORD Looking for a place to go tonight? Denver has lifted its curfew, and local eateries are hungry for customers. Restaurants across Colorado can now reopen for on-premises dining, with stringent safety guidelines; counties and municipalities can add their own rules, but most are going with the state’s stipulations that eateries be
By Marianne Goodland COLORADO POLITICS The Colorado House, on a 41-23 party-line vote, approved the 2020-21 state budget and sent it on to its next stop, the state Senate. As sent over by the House, the budget is out of balance. But that’s not much of an issue for now, according to Joint Budget Committee
COLORADO POLITICS Read more
By John Frank THE COLORADO SUN To address a $3 billion shortfall, Colorado lawmakers made a series of drastic spending cuts and moved close to finalizing a state budget battered by the coronavirus and the paralyzed economy. The legislative budget committee on Thursday cut $448 million from K-12 education — a 10% cut compared to a
By Brain Eason THE COLORADO SUN Just two years after Colorado approved sweeping pension reforms aimed at wiping out what was then an unfunded $32 billion debt to public sector retirees, state budget writers — facing a financial catastrophe of their own — have temporarily undone a portion of the landmark rescue package. The Joint
By Dominick Moreno and Rachel Zenzinger THE DENVER POST Last week was the most difficult week we have ever faced as elected officials or members of the Joint Budget Committee. We had tearful discussions prior to gut-wrenching decisions as we addressed devastating health and economic issues in our state budget. Before the virus hit, Colorado
By Andrew Kenney CPR NEWS Colorado’s lawmakers have one main focus for the next few weeks: cuts, cuts and cuts. When they reconvene at the legislature next week, they will have to find agreement on how to reduce state government spending for next year by billions of dollars. The damage may be heaviest for education, health and
By Erica Meltzer CHALKBEAT Colorado’s K-12 schools and higher education institutions will get nearly $1 billion in additional federal money to offset costs associated with coronavirus response. Gov. Jared Polis on Monday issued an executive order describing how the state plans to distribute $1.67 billion from the federal coronavirus relief bill to local governments and
By Marianne Goodland COLORADO POLITICS Colorado just cannot cut its way out of a $3.3 billion shortfall in 2020-21. But that’s the reality facing lawmakers who face the prospect of an unprecedented budget cut, the result of the COVID-19 pandemic and a precipitous decline in state revenues. So the hope is that the federal government
THE NEW REPUBLIC By Nick Martin Even as the number of documented cases declines, New York City remains the hot spot of the coronavirus crisis in the United States. It’s also, in the months since the pandemic first took hold here, become a case study in how a government’s response will only ever be as
By Andrew Kenney CPR NEWS Colorado’s government faces a $3.3 billion shortfall for the fiscal year that begins in July, according to a new state economic forecast. That means the state’s discretionary spending may have to shrink by 25 percent in the coming year, according to legislative staff — the equivalent of eliminating Colorado’s operating budgets
By Blair Miller, Meghan Lopez DENVER7 Colorado lawmakers are looking at a budget shortfall of about $3.3 billion for the 2020-21 fiscal year including carryover from this year due to the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a Legislative Council Staff economic forecast released Tuesday. State lawmakers said Monday they had expected to slash between $2 billion and$3