The Joint Budget Committee revisited several tabled items late last week:

1. Continuing General Funds of $5 million for School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs) was approved in the CDPHE budget. This item passed by a vote of 6-0. 

2. Continuing General Funds for Colorado Immunization Information System (CIIS) despite a threat to cut all state funding for CIIS. This item also passed unanimously. 

3. The JBC voted 6-0 to allow some state general funds to draw a federal Medicaid match for projects operated by 4 Local Public Health Agencies (LPHAs) to manage costs and improve health outcomes in Medicaid. 

4. The committee voted 6-0 for $681,730 in additional funding for the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) to address waiting list(s). This item had been tabled.

5. Despite approving federal Medicaid match for Connect for Health Colorado as a supplemental budget item for FY16-17, the JBC had tabled a request for annualization and continuation of this match in FY17-18. The annual amount of $5.1 million was not approved on Thursday, when the JBC deadlocked 3-3 (party-line) on a motion to accept the recommendation. Senator Lundberg spoke against it at length, citing problems with enrolling self-employed applicants erroneously into Medicaid. Details: http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/hcpf_chc.pdf

Revenue Projections

While the Governor's Office indicated there is an estimated $700 million shortfall, the Legislative Council's estimate is less. However, these estimates do not take into account budget decisions made by the JBC, making them somewhat meaningless until they are compared to the developing Long Bill. The JBC will be making this comparison today. At that time, they will know how much they will need to cut in the budget. 

The JBC has tabled and not yet voted on a number of major budget items, including the Governor's proposal to reduce Hospital Provider Fee revenues to avoid TABOR tax refunds and thus avoid further General Fund cuts to be able to provide the mandated refunds. See page 20 of Legislative Council's document for a table outlining how much to expect in TABOR refunds next year. The tax refunds are expected to range from $23 for a single filer earning less than $39,000 annually to $559 for joint filers earning more than $221,300 annually. These refunds and budget cuts are both anticipated. 

Link to Legislative Council document: http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/march2017forecast_0.pdf

Marijuana Tax Cash Funds

This afternoon, the JBC is scheduled to learn how much marijuana tax revenues are available to be spent in FY17-18. At press time, they are expected to sweep some of the funds to balance the budget, putting additional requests for those funds at risk of not being approved and possibly resulting in reductions to previously approved items.