Senate Gives Initial Sign Off to FY 23-24 Budget Supplemental Package
Bills include measures to set students up for success, increase access to behavioral health care, support seniors, & improve public safety
DENVER, CO – The Colorado Senate today advanced the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Budget Supplemental Package on a preliminary vote. The suite of bills includes measures to set students up for success, increase access to behavioral health care, support seniors, and improve public safety.
“Our bipartisan supplemental budget package will help all Coloradans access the resources they need to thrive,” said JBC Vice Chair Rachel Zenzinger, D-Arvada. “In response to mid-year budget adjustments like changes in caseloads and pupil counts, we’re investing responsibly to make sure we meet the needs of programs ranging everywhere from education to behavioral health care to public safety. I look forward to continuing our work to craft a budget that delivers for Colorado families and communities while keeping Colorado on solid financial footing.”
“This year’s supplemental budget package reflects our Colorado values,” said JBC member Jeff Bridges, D-Arapahoe County. “We’ve worked in a bipartisan fashion to invest in our shared priorities – supporting behavioral health care, improving public safety, and bolstering our early childcare system.”
Each year, the legislature adopts a Budget Supplemental Package to make mid-year adjustments to the current fiscal year’s budget based on changes to caseload, pupil counts and other considerations.
Supporting Education, Setting Students Up for Success
HB24-1183 would provide over $4.6 million from the State Public School Fund to support at-risk students in their educational journey. This bill would help school districts meet the needs of their at-risk students to help them succeed and graduate.
HB24-1206 would make facility schools as well the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind eligible for state nutrition programs, including Healthy Schools Meals for All. This bill aims to ensure all youth have access to healthy, nutritious food during the school day.
HB24-1182 would allocate over $11 million of federal Child Care Development Funds money to the Child Care Sustainability Grant Program and the Early Care and Education Recruitment and Retention Grant and Scholarship Program.
Increasing Access to Behavioral Health Care
HB24-1187 would devote $58 million to properly staff hospitals that house patients with pending criminal charges that require competency evaluations, and would allocate $13.1 million to Pueblo’s Colorado Mental Health Hospital to fill staff openings with contract staffers. Additionally, the bill would allocate $500,000 to the Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind, allowing the state to meet the rising demand for the long-term needs of Coloradans and maintain accessibility services.
HB24-1203 would allocate $11.4 million for inpatient treatment beds at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan to ensure Coloradans can receive the behavioral health care treatment they need, when they need it.
HB24-1185 would offer $10.4 million to increase rates for child behavioral therapies with autism spectrum disorder, meeting the recommendations of the Medicaid Provider Rate Review Advisory Committee.
Improving Public Safety
HB24-1214 would support survivors of crime by boosting the Community Crime Victims Grant Program with a $4 million investment. This fund directly supports qualified victims of crime by assisting with emergency housing, child care and medical visits.
HB24-1197 would aid local places of worship, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, in ramping up their security measures through a $1 million allocation to the Colorado Nonprofit Security Grant Program. The bill would also set aside more than $200,000 in grant funding for local education providers and eligible nonprofits to help schools keep their students safe through improved physical security measures as well as advanced security training for their staff and teachers.
Supporting Services for Older Coloradans
HB24-1211 would offer $2 million in supplemental funding to the Meals on Wheels program and other senior services to ensure the thousands of Coloradans who rely on these programs can have access to healthy, nutritional meals. Due to interruptions in federal funding, older Coloradans who use the popular Meals on Wheels food delivery program could experience a lapse in service without action by the legislature.
Reaching Climate Goals
HB24-1196 would provide a $1.3 million grant renewal to help Coloradans transition to eco-friendly, electric lawnmowers, leaf blowers and other lawn equipment. Additionally, the bill would allocate $214,000 to ensure the state can educate on and protect Colorado’s water and ecosystems following the Sackett v. EPA Supreme Court decision that left Colorado’s wetlands vulnerable to pollution and destruction.