6 numbers to know in Colorado's $36 billion state budget bill
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The $36.4 billion state budget package introduced this week at the General Assembly represents "a return to a sense of normal," said chief budget writer Rep. Julie McCluskie.
The big picture: Spending for the fiscal year starting July 1 represents a roughly 4% increase from the current budget year and includes more money for education, a new state agency and hundreds of new employees.
Zoom in: The Democratic majority prioritized dozens of major policy decisions and directed money to its shared priorities with Gov. Jared Polis as well as some pet projects.
By the numbers: Here are six figures to know about this year's spending package:
$43.5 million: The total set aside to address air quality after the state agreed to let federal regulators downgrade its standing.
- Much of the money will go toward hiring about 66 new regulators and establishing monitoring programs to cut emissions.
$4.7 million: The cost to increase security protection for the governor and add state patrol and other officers at the state Capitol complex, where lawmakers work.
- Secretary of State Jena Griswold will get $32,000 more to hire private security to address threats related to her role overseeing elections.
$800,000: The amount earmarked for the state's Commission on Judicial Discipline to conduct an investigation into judicial misconduct after the Supreme Court wouldn't give it the needed money.
107: The estimated number of new agents, analysts and other employees that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation will add in the next three years, a 31% increase in its staffing.
4.3%: The amount undergraduate tuition will increase for incoming students at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
- Other state colleges expect resident tuition to increase no more than 2%, but graduate and non-resident students could see larger hikes.
3%: The across-the-board salary increase state employees can expect next fiscal year.
- In addition, $1.4 million and several new staffers will be allocated toward the administration of a new collective bargaining agreement with the state employees union; the agreement includes tuition reimbursement and crisis support.