Lawmakers to weigh 3% pay raise for state workers, restoring education cuts and more
Colorado’s proposed 2021-22 state budget debuts Monday, and the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee made a slew of last-minute spending adjustments in recent days, looking to restore pandemic-induced cuts in some places and put money toward some new initiatives, too.
The state’s economic forecast is rosier than expected, with about $5.3 billion to use on new spending or to put into reserves — a roughly fourfold improvement on what was forecast nine months ago. The 2020-21 fiscal year budget was about $30 billion.
Flush with cash, the budget writers believe they can restore cuts to K-12 and higher education funding, grow the state’s reserves above 13% of overall spending, and set aside some $50 million for new spending bills this year. Here are a few of the highlights:
State employee raises
Heading into this budget cycle, Gov. Jared Polis proposed a 2.05% raise for state employees. The budget committee initially bumped that to 2.5%, then another 0.5% after the rosy economic forecast landed earlier this month.
Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/04/01/colorado-budget-state-worker-raises-economy-education-funding/
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