The Colorado Senate will begin debate this week on the state’s proposed budget, kicking off the roughly three-week process to formally determine the spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.
Budget-writing lawmakers have spent the past several months finding more than $1 billion in cuts as they grapple with balancing the budget under the growth cap set by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. The chair of the Joint Budget Committee, Sen. Jeff Bridges, characterized it as “a budget that everyone will be upset by and that everyone can be proud of” — foreshadowing what’s expected to be a lengthy debate about state priorities.
The Senate debate will be the first step toward the bill’s passage. It will then go to a full debate in the House, likely next week.
The budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which starts July 1, is one of the few must-pass bills every legislative session. Lawmakers budgeted to about $16.9 billion in general fund spending, which is the more flexible pot of money for state priorities. Overall spending would be $43.9 billion.
Here’s what else is happening in the legislature this week:
Single-payer health care analysis
Colorado’s latest push toward a single-payer health care system will be in the House Finance Committee on Monday afternoon. Senate Bill 45, if passed, would require the University of Colorado’s School of Public Health to analyze model legislation creating a universal health care system in the state. The analysis would be paid for using gifts, grants and donations to the university.
The legislation already passed the Senate on a nearly party-line vote. Sen. Cleave Simpson, an Alamosa Republican, voted yes on the measure — in the hopes, he said, that it would finally silence the debate about whether Colorado should move toward such a system for health insurance.
Single-payer health care has otherwise been a priority for some Democrats and liberals for years and was a centerpiece of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns. A similar bill died in the final hours of last year’s legislative session.
In 2016, Colorado voters rejected a universal health care proposal.
Age verification for websites
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is looking to regulate access to certain websites with a pair of bills slated for debate Tuesday.
The full Senate will discuss Senate Bill 201, which would require age verification to access websites with porn and sexual materials. The proposal aims to protect minors, according to the legislative declaration.
Also that day, the House Health and Human Services Committee will debate House Bill 1287, which aims to regulate social media use by youth. It would require platforms to determine if the users are children and provide extra tools so they can curate their experience on the platform. It follows a similar effort last year that failed in the final week of the session.
Committee hearings are the chance for public testimony on bills. The exact timing of the hearings and floor debates is fluid and can change.
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