Colorado’s $46.8 Billion Budget Is Balanced on Paper

Colorado Politics reporter Marianne Goodland walks through the near-final version of Colorado’s $46.8 billion state budget and treats it like the usual Capitol ritual: long debate, some amendments, a few procedural hurdles, and then everybody acts relieved the machine is still technically humming.

The Senate approved the spending plan on a largely party-line vote, and now the Joint Budget Committee gets to iron out differences before sending it to Gov. Jared Polis.

The article makes clear this thing is “balanced” in the same way a family balances the checkbook after moving money out of savings, skipping needed expenses, and telling the kids Christmas will be “more meaningful” this year. The budget grew by about $300 million over the current year, much of it driven by Medicaid costs, while lawmakers filled a reported $1.1 billion general fund hole with reserve cuts, cash fund transfers, Medicaid reductions, and a plan tied to TABOR refund overpayments. Marianne Goodland lays out the mechanics cleanly, even if the politics underneath the hood smell like hot antifreeze.

The Bullet Point Brief

• The Senate passed a $46.8 billion budget on a 25-10 vote, mostly along party lines. So yes, the annual ceremony of “we did the hard thing” is underway right on schedule.
• The state faced a $1.1 billion general fund deficit, and lawmakers closed part of that gap by dropping the general fund reserve from 15% to 13%. Because apparently “rainy day fund” now means “sunny day spending habit.”
• They also pulled in $102.5 million through cash fund transfers. That is the Capitol version of digging through the couch cushions, except the couch belongs to taxpayers and the people digging call themselves visionaries.
• Medicaid cuts added another $135 million in savings, including provider rate cuts and service reductions. So the state grows spending overall, then turns around and trims actual care to make the math work. Very compassionate. Very progressive. Very predictable.
• The article notes a $153 million placeholder tied to general fund dollars that otherwise would be refunded to taxpayers because of TABOR overpayment issues, while separate budget bills reduce TABOR obligations by about $111 million. Translation: when government over-collects, the instinct is still to keep your money first and explain later.

My Bottom Line

The ruling Democrats want you to hear one word here: balanced. Technically, on paper, in the narrowest possible legislative sense, sure. Balanced. Gold star. Frame the certificate. But normal people know the difference between a real fix and a temporary patch job wrapped in talking points.

What this article actually describes is not a durable solution. It is a familiar shell game. Raid some cash funds. Cut the reserve. Squeeze Medicaid. Fiddle with TABOR refunds. Pass a stack of orbitals to mop up the legal and political mess. Then stand at the microphone and congratulate yourselves for “meeting the moment.” That is not reform. That is buying time with somebody else’s wallet.

And let’s be honest about the deeper problem. The structural deficit is still there. It did not vanish because a committee found new pockets to pick. It did not disappear because the majority slapped a balanced-budget label on the package and hoped the Great Suburban Normie would stop asking questions. Next year, they will be right back in the same ditch, holding the same shovel, insisting the hole is actually a transportation corridor.

Until somebody in this state gets serious about cutting spending, not slowing growth, not moving line items around, not performing budget kabuki, but actually cutting spending, this keeps happening. Colorado taxpayers keep getting played, TABOR keeps getting treated like an obstacle instead of a promise, and the Democrats responsible keep asking for applause because they managed to survive another round of consequences from their own bad habits.

Source: Colorado Politics