The busiest week for members of the Joint Budget Committee usually occurs when the legislature debates the budget proposal. Since the Senate took up the budget last week, that means the majority of my time was focused on presenting, debating, and ultimately passing the Long Bill.

Many people will say that a budget is a moral document. There is probably some truth in that statement. People also say that a camel is a horse designed by committee. There is some truth in that too. The JBC presented a good "horse" budget and our colleagues perfected it with a variety of amendments (fact sheet courtesy of Jennifer Corrigan).

Unfortunately, the amendments caused us to overspend and put the budget out of balance. In Colorado, we must have a balanced budget, so the JBC will work on integrating the suggested changes and get the budget back into alignment. We hope to bring back a very fine "camel" to our colleagues by the end of next week. I'll update you on the final details of the budget in the next edition of the newsletter.

Now that we have firmed up our budget, all the bills that have been "waiting" in the House and Senate appropriations committees will start to move. We have exactly one month from today to finish up our legislative work. I have introduced 39 bills to date, and I have four additional bills that will be introduced in the coming week, including the School Finance Act. Eleven of my House bills, and nine of my Senate bills, are still working their way through the legislative process. To learn more, I hope you will consider joining me next Saturday for my monthly town hall meeting. And, as always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.

School Finance Act will soon be introduced: Even though the legislature created a placeholder in the budget for the state's share of school funding, the money officially gets distributed through a separate bill known as the School Finance Act. There are several steps that go into financing our public elementary and secondary schools. Each year, LCS puts together a publication that explains the ins-and-outs of school finance, including the funding formula, a review of the revenue that is earmarked for special functions, and a list of categorical programs. To view this year's School Finance in Colorado publication, click HERE.

Air quality bill package introduced: Last week we unveiled a package of bills focused on improving air quality across Colorado. The bills represent an historic investment in clean transportation, energy efficiency, and air quality monitoring, regulation, and incentives. Some of those bills include: SB22-193, SB22-180, and HB22-1244. To learn more, click HERE Also, to learn more about these and other bills addressing climate change, please join us at our monthly town hall meeting. The topic this month: Earth, Wind and Fire!

Colorado Public Radio: For years, the state hasn’t paid its share of what it costs to educate students with disabilities. Now, more money is coming, but is it enough?

Colorado Politics: Colorado Senate adds roughly $800 million, passes $37.2 billion state spending plan

Denver Post: Colorado’s Senate passed an extra $500 million for education — but it’s unlikely to stay in the budget

Denver Business Journal: Colorado passes bill imposing insurance requirements on Uber, Lyft

Colorado Politics: Colorado Senate adds $725 million to $36.4 billion spending plan for next year

For a full list of this week's press and videos visit rachelforcolorado.com/news.

Please join Sen. Zenzinger, and Reps. Titone and Daugherty, for a virtual legislative town hall meeting on climate change policies making their way through the legislature, including: air quality, water, fire mitigation, and more! Special guests will include Danny Katz of CoPIRG, Dennis Eulberg of the Colorado Professional Fire Fighters Association, and a spokesperson from CDPHE. For more details, click HERE.

SB22-146 Middle Income Access Program Expansion: Concerning the expansion of the Colorado housing and finance authority's middle income access program. The bill passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee and will be heard in the Senate this week.

SB22-159 Revolving Loan Fund Invest Affordable Housing: Concerning the creation of a revolving loan fund within the division of housing in the department of local affairs to make investments in transformational affordable housing. The bill passed out of the Senate Local Government Committee and referred to Senate Finance on Wednesday, April 13 at 1:30 pm.

SB22-162 Administration Organization Act Modernization: Concerning the modernization of the terminology used in the Colorado Revised Statutes relating to the organization of Colorado state governmental agencies without altering the status of the powers assigned to those agencies pursuant to the "Administrative Organization Act of 1968". The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate and will head to the House.

SB22-164 Correction Property Tax Disclosure Information Metropolitan District: Concerning the substitution of the word "treasurer's" in place of the word "assessor's" in a statutory provision requiring disclosure of property tax information for purchasers of newly constructed residences within the boundaries of a metropolitan district. The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate and will head to the House.

SB22-192 Opportunities for Credential Attainment: Concerning the creation of opportunities for credential attainment, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation. The bill will be heard in the Senate Education Committee on Thursday, April 14 at 1:30 pm.

HB22-1031 Consumer Right to Repair Powered Wheelchairs: Concerning a requirement that a powered wheelchair manufacturer facilitate the repair of its powered wheelchairs by providing certain other person with the resources needed to repair the manufacturer's powered wheelchairs. The bill was introduced and assigned to the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee.

HB22-1093 Updates To Bingo And Raffles Law: Concerning the conduct of charitable gaming activity, and, in connection therewith, modernizing the "Bingo and Raffles Law" to accommodate the use of improved electronic aids and devices in the conduct of games of chance and making an appropriation. The bill passed unanimously on Second Reading.

HB22-1202 At-risk Student Measure for School Finance: Concerning the creation of a new measure in the public school funding formula for identifying at-risk students, and, in connection therewith, creating a working group in the department of education to implement the new measure in a future budget year. The bill passed unanimously on Second Reading.

HB22-1294 Special Education Services in Charter Schools: Concerning additional pathways to provide special education services to children with disabilities in charter schools. The bill passed out of the Senate Education Committee and will be heard on Second Reading on Monday, April 11.

HB22-1340 Capital-related Transfers of Money: Concerning capital-related transfers of money. The bill will be heard on Third Reading in the Senate this week.

The red font indicates a new bill or a change in status. For a full list of active bills, visit rachelforcolorado.com/capitol or the Colorado General Assembly's website.

SB22-017 Fluid Milk Products Not Divisible Load: Concerning the determination that a load of fluid milk products hauled by a vehicle is not a divisible load under the vehicle weight limits permitted by law.

SB22-054 Recommend Community School for Turnaround Plan: Concerning the addition of a recommendation that a district public school be converted to a community school if the district public school fails to make substantial progress under its turnaround plan.

SB22-064 Neighborhood Youth Organizations: Concerning requirements for neighborhood youth organizations that provide services designed for the development of youth.

SB22-121 Tuition Revenue Pledged by Institution Higher Education: Concerning increasing the amount of tuition revenues pledged by an institution of higher education.

SB22-137 Transition Back to Standard K-12 Accountability: Concerning measures related to the transitional return to standard education.

SB22-142 Repeal Municipal Bond Supervision Advisory Board: Concerning the repeal of the municipal bond supervision advisory board.

HB22-1057 Public Employees' Retirement Association Employment After Teacher Retirement: Concerning public employees' retirement association employment after retirement limitations.

HB22-1162 Motor Vehicle Digital Number Plates: Concerning authorization to use digital number plates in lieu of metal number plates on a vehicle.

HB22-1099 Online Marketplaces and Third-party Sellers: Concerning mandatory disclosures of third-part sellers selling through online marketplace.

HB22-1101 Public Employees’ Retirement Association Service Retiree Employment in Rural Schools: Concerning the expansion of a program that allows a public employees’ retirement association service retiree to work full-time without any reduction in the service retiree’s retirement for benefits for a rural school district that has a critical shortage of qualified individuals with specific experience, skills, or qualifications that the service retiree has.

HB22-1245 Foster Youth in Transition Program Clarifications: Concerning clarifications related to the foster youth in transition program.

HB22-1250 Nonsubstantive Changes to Title 7 of Colorado Revised Statutes: Concerning nonsubstantive changes to title 7 of the Colorado revised statutes.

HB22-1255 Improve Higher Education for Students With a Disability: Concerning measures to improve postsecondary education outcomes for students with a disability.

HB22-1331 Supplemental Funding for Facility Schools: Concerning supplemental funding for facility schools, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation. 

HB22-1333 Increase Minimum Wage for Nursing Home Workers: Concerning an increase in the minimum wage for nursing facility employees, and, in connection therewith making an appropriation. 

HB22-1334 Food Distribution Program Administrative Fee: Concerning the collection of an administrative fee from an agency that receives commodities through a food distribution program.

HB22-1336 Streamline Processing of Judicial Department Collections: Concerning the streamlining of the processing of certain money collected by the judicial department. 

HB22-1339 Merge Department of Revenue Division of Motor Vehicles Cash Funds: Concerning the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account of the highway users tax fund, and, in connection therewith, merging the licensing services cash fund into the account and requiring account investment earnings to be credited to the account. 

HB22-1342 Marijuana Tax Cash Fund: Concerning measures to ensure that the marijuana tax cash fund is in balance.