DENVER — The news on the state’s revenue expectations is better than expected, but state economists warned lawmakers Friday that there is still a lot of uncertainty about the impacts of COVID on the economy. Until the vaccine is distributed, job losses and the winter will still be hardest on the lowest income workers in Colorado, economists warned.
The December revenue forecast looked good, on paper. The Joint Budget Committee, joined by more than a dozen other lawmakers, heard that they will have $3.75 billion to spend for the 2022-23 budget, based on the forecast from economists at the Legislative Council.
The economists with the governor’s office of state planning and budgeting were more wary. Their estimate was at around $2.6 billion.
But that’s all one-time funds, meaning spending for new programs is largely out of the picture when the General Assembly returns on Jan. 13 for its 2021 session.
Economists from both entities said the state’s revenue estimates are higher than they were in December, due largely to income tax collections for calendar year 2019 that came in later in 2020 and that have been higher than expected. That’s why it’s one-time money.
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