Governor Hickenlooper’s Budget Proposal

Yesterday, Governor Hickenlooper submitted his budget proposal for FY 2011-12 to the Joint Committee on Budgeting. Based on revenue forecasts from the Legislative Council and Office of State Planning and Budgeting, the FY 2011-12 budget package reduces $425.0 million total funds and 263.4 FTE. The plan includes reductions to K-12 education, higher education, Medicaid, and human services. It also proposes closing a state prison (Ft. Lyon Correctional Facility), a drug treatment and a residential health care program, and re-purposing four State parks. Bonny Lake, Sweitzer Lake, Harvey Gap, and Paonia State Parks are being considered for closure/re-purposing. According to the budget plan re-purposing could mean “closing, transferring management or ownership, or placing into a “caretaker” status the referenced parks.” All of the details are available on the Office of State Planning and Budgeting website. Take a look at the “Budget Balancing Letter to the JBC” and the breakdown for individual departments to get an idea of the cuts that have been proposed.

The Joint Budget Committee will review and consider the budget balancing proposal, and present their recommendations to the General Assembly. A good description of the budget process can be found on the JBC website.