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Griswold s office says the money will be used for guards to protect Griswold and staff members at public events and to track the threats against her online.
The Colorado General Assembly finalized the $34.1 billion, 2021-2022 budget on April 30, with last-minute additions for gray wolf reintroduction, short-term cash assistance and bullying prevention efforts. If the budget package is signed by Governor Jared Polis, it would constitute an 11 percent increase in spending over the current year.
That’s a far cry from the belt-tightening forced by the pandemic last spring, when lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee were expecting a prolonged economic downturn. But this year, between higher-than-expected sales and income tax revenue, and a forthcoming influx of federal coronavirus relief money, legislators almost had more money than they knew what to do with, to quote Senator Dominick Moreno, a Commerce City Democrat who s the JBC chair.
Following a year of budget cuts and funding rearrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado s Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) program is on track to get those funds back from a major revenue source: pot taxes.
Senate Bill 207 passed the Colorado Legislature on April 19, requiring the transfer of $100 million from the state s Marijuana Tax Cash Fund into the BEST program to restore funding cut last year. The 2020 cuts were made to augment the state s General Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Senator Dominick Moreno, a prime sponsor of the bill and chair of the legislature s Joint Budget Committee. But that money will be coming back next year.
Housing – A Pressing Problem For Colorado Seniors
By Eileen Doherty, MS ~
DENVER, Colo. – Housing is expensive, especially for low income individuals, but for middle income individuals as well. Rent, mortgage payments, taxes, utilities, and maintenance of a home or apartment are costly.
While the pandemic was supposed to put a moratorium on evictions that is still ongoing, we are seeing more and more older adults not only being evicted, but also falling behind in the rent. The rental assistance programs that have been part of the stimulus packages have not been very available to older adults, resulting in a serious lack of resources.