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DENVER, CO – The House Appropriations Committee today passed a bill that would better balance the authority between the Governor and the General Assembly during times of economic uncertainty. SB25B-001 passed by a vote of 11-0.
“When Congressional Republicans passed Trump’s tax bill last month, it immediately blew a billion-dollar hole in this year’s state budget, putting us in a position to make difficult spending cuts,” said Rep. Emily Sirota, D-Denver, JBC member. “Current law gives the Governor sole power to make cuts to programs and services during a revenue shortfall, which is why I’m sponsoring this law to strengthen collaboration by bringing the Joint Budget Committee to the table. With this bill, we can encourage a more balanced approach to fill the revenue hole that was caused by the reckless federal GOP budget.”
“Because of Trump’s corporate giveaways, we are forced to make cuts to our budget. This legislation will help us make well-informed, data-driven decisions to minimize the harm caused by Congressional Republicans,” said Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon. “Creating a responsible and thoughtful process to reduce state spending is a much better approach than the legislature rebalancing the budget on the fly, on the floor without any analysis from our nonpartisan staff, data or input from the Joint Budget Committee. By balancing the Governor’s authority and updating spending reduction triggers, we can better serve the people of Colorado.”
Under current law, the Governor has broad unilateral authority to suspend programs and services during a revenue shortfall via executive order. SB25B-001 would require the Governor to notify the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) of executive orders to reduce spending and require the JBC to promptly meet with the executive branch to discuss the plan.
The bill balances the authority between the Governor and the General Assembly by ensuring the JBC is involved in decision-making processes early on and by adding guardrails to the executive branch’s existing authority to help ensure that they continue to meet and implement legislative directives.
The bill would also update the required spending reduction triggers to more accurately reflect economic pressures and the current status of the reserve, which Democrats have worked to build up to 15 percent since the COVID pandemic, when it fell below 4 percent. In addition to the triggers in existing law, the bill would add that if a revenue estimate indicates that the state needs to use an amount of the reserve equal to 3 percent of the general fund appropriations for that fiscal year (e.g. around $490 million for FY26), the Governor must take action to reduce spending.