The legislative body that crafts Colorado’s state budget on Wednesday came up with its recommendations on which spending to keep and pitch to lawmakers.

In making its recommendations, the Joint Budget Committee acted as the conference committee, which serves to reconcile differences between the two legislative chambers.  

Notably, the committee decided to allocate a $10 million general fund boost to the Division of Insurance for the state’s reinsurance program, a request the governor made on Jan. 3 that was never acted on by the Joint Budget Committee until Wednesday.

In its work two weeks ago, the state Senate had offered 37 amendments to Senate Bill 214, adopting 17. That increased the $38.5 billion budget bill by $84.9 million, almost all of it in general fund dollars – normally the discretionary dollars lawmakers have to add or expand programs in state government.

By law, the General Assembly has to send the governor a balanced budget, so the additions at least temporarily put the budget out of balance.

When SB 214 got to the House, the House Appropriations Committee stripped off all the Senate amendments and sent a “clean” bill to the House floor. 

The House put back 13 out of the 17 amendments from the Senate and added 12 of their own. That increased the spending in SB 214 by $111 million, of which $108 million was in general fund dollars.

Then it was back to the JBC, which is charged with resolving the differences. The conference committee was given permission to go beyond the scope of differences between the House and Senate versions of the Long Appropriations Bill, which contains the state budget’s main spending provisions.  

And, as a conference committee, the JBC would be charged with responding to the wishes of their chambers and caucuses.

The committee removed several amendments because they could create “substantive law” through the budget bill, which isn’t allowed. That is, the budgeting process isn’t supposed to act as a substitute for pushing statutory changes not tied to spending. That included a $30.6 million payment to the Public Employees Retirement Association, which came through a Senate amendment, that would have covered interest payments tied to a missed 2020 payment to PERA by the state. The payment was made last year, but several lawmakers, including Rep. Shannon Bird, D-Westminster, advocated for that payment through legislation that year. 

Bird, who is now vice-chair of the JBC, made the call to get rid of the Senate amendment because of the “substantive law” issue. But she pointed out there is also legislation coming that could make up for that interest payment. 

Another amendment that both chambers agreed to was to cover an interest payment to providers of durable medical equipment, which is tied to a delay in provider rate increases. That amendment also violated the “substantive law” provision.

The budget committee also dumped the $356,701 that would go to the Yuma school district to help pay for the costs of removing their Indian mascot from athletic uniforms, gym floors and other signage. The House adopted the same amount but indicated the money would be split among all the schools that had to make those changes.

But the money is likely headed their way anyway.

“We don’t have the authority to do this,” said Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, who had been the deciding vote in the Senate on the amendment. She indicated an agreement had been made so the money would be appropriated to the school district through the School Finance Act.

The largest changes to the budget dealt with funding for crime victims, both in the Department of Public Safety ($30 million) and the Department of Public Health and Environment ($5 million). While the conference committee kept the amendments, they reduced the amounts to $8 million for the public safety fund and $4 million for the CDPHE fund. 

The conference committee also restored all the amendments that were part of the deal made by the two caucuses during the House’s deliberations on the Long Bill, which is the main spending measure, although most the appropriations were reduced. That included an appropriation to a criminal justice diversion program within the Behavioral Health Administration, which the panel reduced from $5 million to $2 million. An appropriation to cover courthouse repairs, initially approved in the House at $850,000, went down to $425,000. 

An $11,727 appropriation to the state Civil Air Patrol, an amendment adopted in both chambers but which was part of the Republican House request, also stayed in the budget. The reduced appropriations to the crime victim programs were also part of the deal, as was money for a wildlife safe passages fund – although the appropriation was also reduced. 

The panel also reduced an appropriation of $5 million to Denver Health, which is struggling financially, to $1 million. Denver Health earlier this year was given $5 million through the mid-year budget adjustment process.

The conference committee also made a few changes that weren’t part of the amendments offered by the House or Senate.

The largest was the $10 million boost to the Division of Insurance for the state’s reinsurance program, an amendment not included in the debates over the budget. Bird, who made the motion for the funding, gave no explanation on why the reinsurance program needed an additional $10 million.

Commissioner of Insurance Michael Conway, however, offered the answer: The governor asked for the $10 million as part of his Jan. 3 supplemental request for the 2023-24 budget. The request said the money would go toward reducing health insurance premiums, in further support of the reinsurance program, which is a part of the Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise.

The conference committee report now heads first to the House to review the changes, work that is expected on Thursday.