As the Colorado General Assembly prepares to convene in January and consider the $33 billion state budget, the new study offers a comprehensive view of how spending by the state has changed over the past 20 years.

“We believe the more informed policymakers and voters are, the better decisions will be made for Colorado,” said Chris Brown, CSPR Director of Policy and Research.

Key findings include:

? The amount of money spent per Coloradan, has consistently grown over each of the last 10-year periods from $3,700 to nearly $5,200. This means that even with population growth and inflation, the average dollar amount spent per person has increased.

? While only 10% of total spending 20 years ago, cash funds now amount to 29% of total spending.

? Over past two decades real spending by state of Colorado has nearly doubled from $15.6B to $30B.

? Growth in spending by each agency has not been equal.

? From 1999 to 2009 the total spending of K-12 education grew to an additional 2%. However, from 2009 to 2019, that share dropped by nearly 4%.

? Total share of spending by health care policy and financing has grown by more than 14% over the past 20 years.

Read the full report here.

Common Sense Policy Roundtable is a non-profit, free enterprise think tank dedicated to the protection and promotion of Colorado’s economy.