Colorado legislature update - January 2024
By John Seward, Advocacy Committee CorrespondentEMS Director, University of Denver
Colorado lawmakers returned to the State Capitol on Wednesday, January 10 to face a full agenda of familiar issues and long debates on tough challenges like property tax relief and land use regulation. Top of mind for legislators is balancing the state budget which is a constitutionally required endeavor each year.
We are working hard with our members and legislative champions. We are closely monitoring legislation related to property taxes particularly how it will impact our special district members and county governments. Additionally, EMSAC is pursuing legislation relating to surprise medical billing and EMS system funding.
Our new, live legislative bill tracker is online here. It is updated in real-time.
Property taxes – Well before the 2023 session convened, legislators knew that soaring home values had teed up big increases in the property tax bills that would go out in early 2024 and that legislators had to provide some sort of relief. Colorado voters resoundingly rejected that measure, forcing Polis to call the November special session to pass a bill that merely reduces the amount of increase in 2024 property tax bills
Social services – Colorado is facing a multi-faceted crisis in its Medicaid, behavioral health and welfare systems that boils down to one basic problem – a severe shortage of providers. A significant cause of that is inadequate reimbursements to the medical professionals, mental health counselors, nurses, home health aides and others who care for Medicaid patients, the disabled and the mentally ill. This is a top concern for Joint Budget Committee members, but efforts to increase funding for these services, such as raising the provider rate by more than the governor’s proposed 2 percent, will unavoidably create conflicts with other budget priorities.
Public safety – Reform of police, prisons, and criminal law have been big issues in recent sessions, pushed by Democratic progressives after the national George Floyd protests in 2020. Criminal justice is expected to also be a top-level issue during the 2024 session. Polis has made public safety one of his priorities, and his main proposals include funding for state and local efforts to reduce auto theft.
