Lawmakers on Monday began a round of hearings on the proposed 2010-11 state budget, a spending plan that anticipates a revenue shortfall of as much as $1.3 billion.
An economic forecast released earlier this month shows the state could be dealing with a revenue shortfall of as little as $212 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year, which begins in July. But on that point, economists warned the figure is likely to be significantly higher.
House committees met throughout the day with members of the Joint Budget Committee to discuss the 2010-11 budget as proposed by the JBC. The current budget plan largely follows recommendations Gov. Bill Ritter laid out in November.
The full legislature, starting with the House, now must decide whether it approves of the JBC’s plan or would like to change parts of it. The budget is expected to reach the House floor later this week and is headed to the Senate next week.
The total budget is $18.2 billion, a figure that includes $5.3 billion in federal funds dedicated to specific programs and $5.7 billion in cash funds, which are pots of money generated by fees for specific services and which generally are dedicated for that service.
The largest single portion of the budget that lawmakers control is the $7.1 billion general fund, the state’s primary pot of money for operating needs ranging from salaries for many employees to the utility bills and supplies of state agencies. It also funds the bulk of the state’s local aid to public schools, pays for much of the costs of Medicaid providers and provides a portion of the budgets for colleges and universities.
The largest single cut in the budget this year is to K-12 education, which will see about a $260 million reduction, or a 6 percent decrease from last year.
The budget authorizes a net addition of 701 positions to state government, of which 442 are in higher education alone. Lawmakers only approve lump-sum appropriations to the governing boards of colleges and universities and do not sign off on additional employees, which colleges only report for information purposes.
The greatest number of positions added after that, 190, is for the Department of Corrections.
Meanwhile, the governor’s office would receive 682 existing information-technology employees who are being transferred from other agencies’ budgets as part of a consolidation move.
The agency that would see the largest-single reduction in workers is the Department of Human Services, which will lose 125 positions, 65 of which are the result of cuts at mental-health facilities at Fort Logan and in Pueblo. Another 55 of those positions will come from the closure of a nursing facility for the developmentally disabled in Grand Junction.
Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com
