Understanding the Long Bill

JOE WEBB

Governor can sign or veto the whole bill. He can also veto various line item expenditures within the bill like the Governors from many other states. is is an ability the President does not have with the budget of the federal government.

e legislature has a signi cant input into the budget through the Joint Budget Committee. e Joint Budget Committee of the Colorado General Assembly is composed of six members currently, three Senators and three Representatives. Currently, it consists of two Democrats from the State Senate and one Republican. e House of Representatives also have two Democrats and one Republican on it. It is chaired by Jeffco’s own Sen. Rachel Zenzinger of Arvada. e vice chair is Rep. Shannon Bird from Adams County. e purpose of the Joint Budget Com-

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MICHAEL DE YOANNA Editor-in-Chief michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/ Circulation Manager lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com

DONNA REARDON Marketing Consultant dreardon@coloradocommunitymedia.com mittee is “studying the management, operations, programs and scal needs” of the Colorado state government. eir role is very important. In fact, at one time, it was said that the Chairman of the Joint Budget Committee was the second most powerful person in state government with only the Governor exercising more power. e Joint Budget Committee holds hearings and discussions on the state budget throughout the year even when the legislature is out of session. e committees work is that important because of all sorts of entities and individuals ought to have some input regarding government expenditures.

A wonderful feature of the internet and government transparency is that documents and explanations about di erent features of the state budget are online for perusal by the public. e narrative of the Long Bill provides an excellent example of what you can discover online. It provides year over year changes in appropriations (spending) in various subject areas. One area, Early Child-

KRISTEN FIORE West Metro Editor kfiore@coloradocommunitymedia.com

DEB HURLEY BROBST Community Editor dbrobst@coloradocommunitymedia.com

RUTH DANIELS Classified Sales rdaniels@coloradocommunitymedia.com hood, received an 1,841% increase in spending for FY2022. is, of course, is due to Gov. Polis’ initiative to establish universal pre-K education within the state of Colorado. at initiative is above and beyond the constitutional requirement that Colorado must provide K-12 education. Reading these documents, which can be found through any internet search, can be enlightening. e governor’s initiative re: early childhood education is but one part of the state budget even though an entire new department was created to oversee it.

Je erson County has been slow to react to the housing crisis despite housing many manufacturing businesses like mine, and it’s time for the state to work with communities across Colorado to create more affordable housing options. is problem has become too big for counties and cities to do this alone – and we need to solve the housing crisis now.

To address these challenges, we need to create more di erent types of housing that will help create more options for low- and moderateincome families. Solving the housing crisis should be Colorado’s top priority to help small businesses bounce back. By working together and investing in more housing options, we can create a more vibrant and sustainable community for all Coloradans.

Liz Geisleman is the CEO of Rocky Mountain Reagents in Golden and the former Board Chair of the West Metro Chamber and Je Co EDC.

My intent is to examine the budget in more detail. Future articles will include information from state agency heads about their annual budget work, interviews with current and former JBC members, as well as an analysis of what makes up the budget on both the revenue and expenditure side.

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