Lawmakers on Wednesday finished filling a nearly $160 million hole in the current year's spending plan, relying heavily on cash funds to close the gap.
The accomplishment for the Joint Budget Committee, the six-member panel that annually crafts the state's budget, was relatively easy compared with the task it will face starting today: filling a $766.4 million hole in the next budget year, which begins in July.
Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, said lawmakers won't be able to rely much on cash funds to deal with next year's budget problems.
"I really think when the new revenue forecast came out (last week), it was a reality slap in the face that we need to start making some cuts," he said.
Some of the cuts JBC members approved to close the final gap in the current year's budget include reclaiming $2.3 million in funds that school districts had not yet used to expand full-day kindergarten programs. The panel also cut $1.8 million in funding that goes primarily to Colorado Springs-area schools to help accommodate enrollment of children in military families.
The panel eliminated any increase in construction funding for charter schools and cut $1.1 million in payments to private hospitals to compensate for care to the uninsured.
Also cut was $1.7 million in grant funding for innovative health care programs.
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