The Colorado House passed legislation Thursday that would direct $15 million from the state’s general fund to the Office of Just Transition, which was created to try to lessen the economic and social effects of the closure of coal power plants and mines across the state.

House Bill 22-1394, which was approved 51-12, would transfer the funds July 1. The bill would need to clear the Senate before Gov. Jared Polis could sign it into law.

According to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, the purpose of the Office of Just Transition is to “support coal workers, employers, and communities as they plan for the future closings of coal plants upon which their communities depend.”

“We are going to direct $15 million to ensure that no community or worker is left behind as we transition from a coal-based economy,” Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, a Pueblo Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, said in a news release. “This funding will support workers, expand job retraining, and help build vibrant and resilient economies in parts of our state, including Southern Colorado, that are struggling as market forces move our nation away from coal.”

The money would be in addition to an initial $15 million appropriation to the Office of Just Transition in 2021. That grant included $8 million for general implementation of the Just Transition Action Plan and $7 million to establish a new Coal Transition Worker Assistance Program.

“The legislation we advanced today is a vital step forward for transitioning communities and demonstrates our commitment to giving them the resources they need and deserve to help workers and diversify their economies,” Rep. Dylan Roberts, an Avon Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, said in a statement.

The 2020 Just Transition Action Plan says, “Together, these recommendations would likely cost the state over $100 million to implement.”

The authors, concerned about the true costs of the plan, said: “We think that advancing any recommendation with a high price tag and no firm suggestion of how to pay for it, at a time when public revenues are significantly stressed, would be a sure-fire way to have that recommendation rejected.”

The action plan admits that the Office of Just Transition “cannot promise these recommendations will be adopted at a later date.” It also says “we are confident they will stand a better chance of serious consideration when state revenues have recovered and we have a better understanding of the proposals, how much they might cost, and how we might pay for them.”

The final fiscal note for HB19-1314, which created the Office of Just Transition, says there are 1,994 eligible workers in Colorado with an average annual wage of $93,913 each.

That comes to $187,262,522 per year in existing wages.

The Office of Just Transition has never planned on replacing lost wages, nor does it have a plan to compensate communities for what it estimates could be tax revenue losses of “perhaps $40 million or more annually if all coal facilities close … to counties and other local taxing districts (fire protection, libraries, water conservancy, and more).”