Fiscal Year 2025-26 Legislative Appropriation Bill
Summary
SB25-188 is the annual legislative department appropriations bill for Colorado for the 2025-26 fiscal year. It sets the operating budget for the General Assembly and related legislative agencies, including the Office of the State Auditor, the Joint Budget Committee, the Legislative Council, and the Committee on Legal Services. The bill also funds the PERA amortization-related employer contributions for legislative staff and includes a small general fund appropriation for the Youth Advisory Council cash fund.
The bill appropriates $74.6 million to the legislative department, with most funding coming from the general fund, plus smaller amounts from cash funds and reappropriated funds. It specifies expected full-time equivalent staffing levels for each legislative unit and notes an anticipated return from the civil actions tax levy to help offset the cost of revising statutes. It also amends the prior year’s legislative council appropriation to carry forward $150,000 for document remediation if not spent by July 1, 2025.
Impact
This bill directly affects state budget law by authorizing spending for the legislative branch and related support functions, rather than changing substantive policy programs. It updates appropriations in the 2025-26 budget and makes a technical amendment to the 2024-25 appropriation act to allow unused document remediation funds to remain available for the Legislative Council. It also continues funding for legislative operations, auditing, bill drafting, legal services, and retirement-related employer obligations, while maintaining the statutory mechanism that helps offset statute revision costs through the civil actions tax levy.
Sentiment
The overall sentiment appears largely procedural and supportive, as appropriations bills are necessary to fund core legislative operations and were ultimately enacted. However, the voting history shows some division during Senate consideration, with several close votes on amendments and committee-of-the-whole motions, suggesting disagreement over specific budget details rather than the need for the bill itself. The House votes were more favorable, and both chambers ultimately moved the bill forward and concurred in amendments.
Contention
The main points of contention appear to have been amendment-level disputes during Senate Appropriations and Senate floor consideration, where some motions failed narrowly and others passed by small margins. The available record does not include transcript discussion, so the specific policy disagreements are not stated, but the close votes indicate debate over how the legislative department budget should be structured or adjusted. The bill itself is not controversial in the broader sense because it is a must-pass appropriations measure for legislative operations, but individual funding allocations and technical provisions drew some resistance.