Column | Roberts: A difficult yet balanced budget
We just passed our state budget for the upcoming year. It is balanced, received bipartisan support and required some incredibly challenging decisions.
Colorado is constitutionally required to pass a balanced budget for our state government every year. We have no state debt and we can’t run a deficit, unlike Congress in Washington, D.C. which only seems to increase our national debt and never balances its budget. Each legislative session in Denver, the General Assembly has to make decisions on how to allocate limited resources across state programs and obligations. About 75% of the general fund goes to education, prisons and Medicaid, with the rest split among transportation, public health and a wide range of other services for Coloradans.
Because of a range of factors, this year’s budget process has been one of the most challenging in recent memory.
How did we get here?
Pressures that caused this year’s budget challenges came from many directions at once.
First, Colorado’s unique TABOR cap limits how much the state budget can grow based on population growth and inflation. When actual costs, such as the cost of providing healthcare, outpace inflation, we are left with a gap. This year, that gap amounted to roughly $1.5 billion.
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Second, Republicans in Congress passed H.R. 1 last summer, despite bipartisan opposition, which significantly reduced federal Medicaid funding flowing to states like Colorado. Medicaid is a critical lifeline for hundreds of thousands of Coloradans, including seniors, people with disabilities, kids and working families who don’t have other options, particularly here in rural Colorado. When federal dollars get cut, Colorado has to make hard choices about how to fill the gap or absorb the loss.
Third, many state-level programs and changes imposed by law, regulation, or inflation over the last few years had the legislature grappling with the need to trim and eliminate services that had grown more than expected.
These pressures combined and left us with a serious hole to fill while still meeting our constitutional obligation to pass a balanced budget.
What does this year’s budget protect?
Even in a difficult year, we made sure the investments and priorities that matter most to Colorado families were protected.
We protected K-12 education funding: Cutting education after the progress we made last year was never on the table, and I am proud that we were able to hold that line, especially for rural schools and the students and teachers who depend on this funding most.
Last year, we created the Kids Matter Fund to make historic investments in our schools, and that work is paying off this year. The Kids Matter Fund is forecast to invest an additional $216 million in Colorado schools next year and we increased funding by $14 million to continue supporting preschool access for all Colorado four year-olds.
We also protected core healthcare services. Despite losing federal Medicaid dollars to H.R. 1, we worked to ensure that Coloradans across the state, especially in our rural communities, can still access the care they need. The cuts we had to make were as targeted and limited as possible so that essential services remain intact.
The senior homestead exemption, which helps seniors save money on their property taxes, was also protected and remains in place.
Rural Colorado priorities
I also fought for a few targeted priorities here in Senate District 8.
I brought forward a bipartisan budget amendment to stop Colorado Parks and Wildlife from using general fund dollars to bring new wolves into the state. The Senate version of the amendment cuts about $270,000 from CPW’s general fund budget for next year, requiring that wolf reintroduction rely on private dollars rather than taxpayer money. Ranchers across our district have dealt with real and ongoing impacts from wolf activity. In a time when we are being forced to cut millions of dollars from crucial programs that help Coloradans, spending taxpayer money for new wolves makes no sense. I was glad to see a large bipartisan majority of senators agree.
I also continued pushing for investments in rural health clinics that serve as a crucial safety net for many communities, and I am working on additional efforts to protect water project funding for agriculture and outdoor recreation.
Looking forward
Working on and ultimately voting for this year’s budget was difficult. Every Colorado family will feel the effects of the cuts we were required to make. Please be in touch with me directly as you navigate potential changes and challenges. I am, as always, deeply committed to making sure our rural communities are not forgotten at the Capitol. Please reach out anytime SenatorDylanRoberts@gmail.com or my cell: 970-846-3054.
