JBC ANNOUNCES PLAN OF ACTION ON BUDGET

DENVER, CO — Joint Budget Committee leadership today announced a plan of action and preliminary timeline agreed to by all JBC members for completing the budget. The JBC aims to finalize the Long Bill, School Finance Act, and any budget-related bills by the end of May to allow state departments, local governments, school districts, and others the time necessary to finalize their budgets by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2020.

“The JBC is committed to a transparent, accountable and responsible budget process that allows us time to gather information on how this crisis is impacting state revenues and work through how we can minimize the impact of severe budget cuts on Coloradans,” said JBC Chair Rep. Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo. “We are prioritizing public health and safety as we work to protect core priorities, such as K-12 education, and craft a balanced budget that supports Colorado families and gets our economy moving again.”

“The JBC is working incredibly hard to re-map Colorado’s budget in the wake of COVID-19,” said JBC Vice-Chair, Sen. Dominick Moreno D- Commerce City. “Many of our priorities are being adjusted as we determine how to best support citizens during the next chapter of relief and recovery. We have some extremely difficult decisions ahead, but we will continue to be guided by our values and fight for Colorado’s most critical programs and institutions.”

“As the General Assembly extends its recess and the statewide stay at home order remains in effect, the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) and its staff continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on Colorado’s economy to identify an appropriate time to review the state budget and make necessary balancing decisions,” wrote JBC members in the letter announcing the plan of action.

The JBC will use the next few weeks to gather information with the goal of releasing new, publicly available figure setting documents by late April.

“JBC and its staff are also utilizing this time to monitor increased demand for social services and unemployment benefits as well as declining state revenues. The JBC continues to work with departments to calculate these impacts on department budgets while also collaborating to identify feasible budget reductions,” the members continued.

The JBC plans to begin meeting again in early May under the preliminary timeline below:

This preliminary timeline is subject to adjustment if necessary based on how the public health and budgetary situation continues to evolve.