DENVER, CO - The House today advanced the FY 2024-2025 Budget Supplemental Package on a preliminary vote.
The package of bills includes $4.6 million for at-risk students, $11 million for child care and $69.4 million toward expanded access to behavioral health care treatment, including residential beds. Other top priorities in the package include funding for autism care for children, workforce housing, victims of crime, and senior services including Meals on Wheels.
“From boosting child care to investing in public safety, this supplemental package delivers on our promise to Coloradans,” said JBC Chair Rep. Shannon Bird, D-Westminster. “These adjustments to our budget will make it easier for Colorado families to not only just get by, but thrive, and they increase support for at-risk students, children with autism spectrum disorder and healthy school meals. I’m proud of our bipartisan work to put Coloradans first and continue to responsibly balance our budget.”
“This year’s supplemental package shows our dedication to building a Colorado that meets the needs of its people while responsibly working with the limited budget that we have,” said JBC Member Rep. Emily Sirota, D-Denver. “I’m proud that our supplemental package makes critical investments to support our behavioral health workforce, boost education funding, save Coloradans money on energy efficient lawn equipment, and advance critical measures that will help us better fund our schools.”
Each year, the legislature adopts a budget supplemental package to make mid-year adjustments to the 2023-2024 budget based on changes to caseload, pupil counts and other considerations.
Supporting Education, Setting Students Up for Success
HB24-1183 Boosting Funding for At-Risk Students. To support at-risk students in their educational journey, this bill funds over $4.6 million from the State Public School Fund. This bill helps school districts meet the needs of their at-risk students to help them succeed and graduate.
HB24-1183 Reaching Educational Goals. To ensure that Colorado schools have the funding they need, HB24-1183 sets aside $2.8 million for two adequacy studies required by SB23-287 to better understand the level of funding Colorado schools need to provide the education students deserve.
HB24-1205 Improving Youth’s Access to Books. This bill helps get more books into the hands of our youngest Coloradans by helping the Imagination Library reach its goal of providing one, no cost, book a month to children under the age of five. This bill specifically allows the Imagination Library of Colorado program to partner with other nonprofit organizations and book publishers to reach its goal.
HB24-1206 Expanding the Healthy School Meals program. This bill would expand the Healthy School Meals program to include facility schools as well the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind. This bill aims to ensure all youth have access to healthy, nutritious food during the school day.
Boosting Childcare
HB24-1182 Saving Families Money on Child Care. HB24-1182 allocates 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
HB24-1187 Behavioral Health Services in the Criminal Justice System. This bill devotes $58 million to properly staff hospitals that house patients with pending criminal charges that require competency evaluations and services.
HB24-1187 Boosting Mental Health Care. This bill supports mental health care by funding $13.1 million to Pueblo’s Colorado Mental Health Hospital so they can fill staff openings with contract staffers.
HB24-1203 Increase Residential Treatment Beds. To ensure Coloradans can receive the behavioral health care treatment they need, when they need it this bill allocates $11.4 million for inpatient treatment beds at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan.
HB24-1185 Provider Rate Increase for Child Autism Therapy. This bill meets the recommendations of the Medicaid Provider Rate Review Advisory Committee by offering $10.4 million to increase rates for child behavioral therapies with autism spectrum disorder.
Improving Public Safety
HB24-1214 Supporting Victims of Crime. This bill aims to 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 through assisting with emergency housing, child care and medical visits.
HB24-1197 Protecting Places of Worship. To aid local places of worship, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, in ramping up their security measures, this bill allocates $1 million toward the Colorado Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
HB24-1181 Increase Workforce Housing for Correctional Staff. The bill allocates an additional $120,000 to the Department of Corrections to secure housing for up to 50 correctional employees in the greater Buena Vista area.
HB24-1197 Boosting School Security. To help schools keep their students safe through improved physical security measures as well as advanced security training for their staff and teachers, this bill sets aside more than $200,000 in grant funding for local education providers and eligible nonprofits to apply for.
Uplifting Communities
HB24-1187 Providing Services for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind. Allocating $500,000 for the Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind allows the state to meet the rising demand for the long-term needs of Coloradans and maintain accessibility services these communities rely on.
Supporting Services for Older Coloradans
HB24-1211 Ensuring Older Coloradans have Access to Nutritious 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. This bill offers $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.
Reaching our Climate Goals
HB24-1196 Saving Coloradans Money on Lawn Equipment. To save Coloradans money on electrifying their lawn equipment, this bill includes a $1.3 million grant renewal to help Coloradans transition to eco-friendly, electric lawnmowers, leaf blowers and other lawn equipment.
HB24-1196 Protecting Colorado’s Water. The Sackett v. EPA Supreme Court decision left Colorado’s wetlands vulnerable to pollution and destruction. This bill allocates over $214,000 to ensure the state can educate on and protect Colorado’s water and ecosystems.