Governor Hickenlooper’s Budget Request Reveals Focus on Higher Ed. and Flood Relief
By Ali Mickelson
With the November election in the rear-view mirror, Colorado lawmakers are turning their eyes to the upcoming legislative session, beginning with the November 1 release of Governor Hickenlooper’s Fiscal Year 2014-2015 budget request. This year’s budget request focuses on restoring cuts to higher education, boosting the state’s reserve and flood and disaster relief.
The governor has requested a total budget of $24.1 billion, of which $9 billion is General Fund. These numbers are based on September 2013 revenue estimates from the Office of State Planning and Budget (OSPB) and represent a 4.5 percent increase in the General Fund and a 4.7 percent increase in total funds.
The governor is recommending the following:
General Fund Statutory Reserve
As a result of the Great Recession, the General Fund statutory reserve account has dropped to 2 percent. The governor’s budget increases the reserve amount to 6.5 percent.
K-12 Education
The governor’s budget includes $258 million in new funding for K-12 education – $223 per pupil. The additional funding is due to increased enrollment and the higher cost of educating kids due to inflation. 57 percent of the new funding will come out of the State Education Fund.
Higher Education
The governor’s budget increases higher education funding by $101.8 million – a 15.5 percent increase. This will restore higher education funding to its peak before the Great Recession. This includes $40 million in student financial aid, which is a 42 percent increase– the largest in Colorado history.
Health and Human Services
The governor’s budget increases funding for health and human services by 7.1 percent or $618 million. Of this, $165 million will come from the General Fund, a 5.9 percent increase. This is in part, due to the growth in Medicaid caseload. Medicaid enrollment is expected to increase by 154,431 clients this year.
Economic Development
The governor recommends increasing tax incentives to certain industries. The budget includes $5 million more in funding to Advanced Industries, as described in HB 12-001; $5 million in tax breaks for the film industry; $3 million to the Economic Development Commission Strategic Fund which provides cash incentives for businesses that create jobs in Colorado for at least a year; and $2 million to promote tourism in Colorado.
Corrections
OSPB predicts that incarceration rates will increase by 2.3 percent, which means 451 additional offenders in Colorado prisons. These new prisoners will cost $4.8 million in General Fund dollars. Coupled with increases for prison medical costs, sex offender treatment monitoring and a more than $10 million increase for the Division of Parole, the Department of Corrections will receive a $42.4 million (6.3 percent) increase from the General Fund.
Capital Construction
The governor’s budget includes a $199.3 million transfer from the General Fund to the Capital Construction Fund. This transfer will be used to complete a variety of projects including maintenance projects around the state for higher education, a library renovation at the Auraria campus, and three certificates of participation to Anschutz Medical Campus, Federal Mineral Lease and the Centennial Correction Facility.
Now that the Governor has presented his budget, the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) is back in business, meeting regularly and considering budget requests from all state departments. The JBC will eventually evaluate and compile the requests into the “Long Bill”. For detail on the Long Bill process, click here.
For the govenor’s complete budget request, click here
