The Colorado House of Representatives is debating a proposed budget that would cut money for taxpayer refunds, hospitals and schools, reported the Denver Post.
The budget—hashed out amid a current deficit and expected future budget shortages—cuts funding to schools and hospitals, while increasing state workers’ and lawmakers’ salaries.
The $28 billion proposed budget is a 4.2 percent increase from last year. In order to balance the budget and deal with the current deficit, it proposes lowering the required reserve back to 6.5 percent, and pulling $26 million from the state employee reserve and $46 million from severance tax collections on oil and gas—a hit for local governments that depend on the funding.
The most controversial elements of the proposal center around the huge cuts to hospitals—they’ll lose half a billion in funding, resulting in potential forced closure of some, reports the Denver Post—and $50 million loss to school funding in the state, while state employees’ salaries go up.
In addition, the cut to the hospital provider fee will mean no TABOR refunds for the coming year—a loss to Colorado residents.
Pay increases include a 1.75 percent raise for state workers, with a potential 0.75 percent merit-based increase, a 7 percent raise for state patrollers, and a 5.7 percent pay increase for the judicial branch, which in turn leads to future salary hikes for state lawmakers, the governor, treasurer, attorney general, and secretary of state.
