Colorado lawmakers on Monday gave their final approval to changes to the state’s $44 billion budget for the next fiscal year.

The budget — which was a week late in its introduction, largely due to the complexity of filling a $1.2 billion deficit in general funds — remains largely unchanged in its final costs. 

The Joint Budget Committee, acting as a conference committee to resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions, recommended that the budget include the following:

• Amendment 21, offered by Sens. Lisa Cutter, D-Littleton and Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, restored provider rates for occupational, physical and speech therapies during the same visit. The amendment added $6.5 million in total funds, including $1.95 million in general funds, to the budget of the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.

• Senate Amendment 46, from Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, added $959,310 in cash funds for an environmental justice program in the Department of Public Health and Environment.

Two amendments adopted by the Senate also were added to the long appropriations bill.

Amendment 41, offered by Sen. Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Rock, moved $40,676 in general funds from the Colorado Equity Office to the Address Confidentiality Program, both within the Department of Personnel and Administration, and added one full-time equivalent employee. The House passed a similar amendment but with a footnote that was not included in the Senate amendment.

Amendment 35, offered by Sen. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, added a footnote to the trial court programs in the judicial department regarding prioritization of judgeships. This is tied to Senate Bill 25-024, which adds 15 judges over the next two years.

Two amendments that won support in both chambers failed to make it onto the final version.

An amendment from Sen. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, would have provided $436,616 in general funds to fund the National Cybersecurity Center at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Lawmakers decided to take those dollars from a recreation program in the Department of Corrections. However, the conference committee rejected that amendment when they found it the money actually corrections officers, not just the program.

An amendment from Sens. Kyle Mullica, D-Thornton, and Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, would have added $5.6 million in general funds and $5.5 million in matching federal funds to the primary care fund in the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. That fund supports community health centers and other safety net clinics. Funds are awarded based on the number of indigent patients the agency serves. The general fund portion is paid for with $2.5 million from the excess General Fund reserve and $3.1 million from the controlled maintenance trust fund.

The conference committee report also added another $131.5 million in total funds and $400,000 in general funds to the budget for technical and other changes.

The largest of those changes was $94 million in cash funds for a capital construction project at Colorado State University, and a $37.6 million increase in cash funds in the Department of Public Safety related to proposition KK. That voter-approved measure from last November levies excise taxes on firearms dealers, manufacturers, and ammunition vendors.

The general funds increase is a “true-up” of funding for state employee health, life and dental insurance.

The conference committee report was adopted by the House on a 55-9 vote; the bill was readopted on a party-line 43-21 vote, with JBC member Rep. Rick Taggart, R-Grand Junction, the only Republican to vote in favor.

In the Senate, the vote on re-passage of Senate Bill 206 was 24-11, with JBC member Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, the only Republican to vote in favor.

The long bill now heads to the governor, who has 10 days to sign it.

The 2025-26 budget is about $3.4 billion more than the 2024-25 budget. Much of the increase is driven by higher costs for Medicaid.