Mudranger1
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Does The Donald get to take credit for this since he is the one supposedly causing the HUGE budget shortfall?
Co Wolf pause
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Does The Donald get to take credit for this since he is the one supposedly causing the HUGE budget shortfall?
I mean, yeah, OBBB slit our throat while TABOR is the one refusing to call 911. Poorly managed bullshit wolf programs are a good place to start. Wonder what the odds are of it passing.
Is there a risk that cutting the general fund dollars would force dollars out of the wildlife fund?
Is there a risk that cutting the general fund dollars would force dollars out of the wildlife fund?
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elkduds
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RojoGrande
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Didn't take them long to work around. Takes $264K of CPW funding and moves it to the Health Insurance Affordability Fund. Sportsman's dollars funding political posturing. Sad and probably illegal to co-mingle funds between agencies.
Jeff Davis believes "it's really important to put another round of 15 animals out."
$264K is a drop in the bucket to solve the $1B budget shortfall. It's apparently the $264K and reintroduction pause was just lip service.
Jeff Davis believes "it's really important to put another round of 15 animals out."
$264K is a drop in the bucket to solve the $1B budget shortfall. It's apparently the $264K and reintroduction pause was just lip service.
Mallardsx2
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^^^^ But, I thought the legalization and sale of weed was going to solve all of the budget shortfalls and problems in Colorado?
elkduds
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Colorado lawmakers return to Capitol to fix budget as they tangle over Trump tax bill ā and solutions
The Colorado Capitol will return to a bustle Thursday as lawmakers flock back months early for a special session on the budget that no one wanted.The bills they pass in the coming days could determine the fate of certain state tax breaks and how much the state dips into its reserves ā as well as the need for spending cuts for programs. The federal tax-and-spending bill signed by President Donald Trump last month blew an estimated $783 million hole in the state budget for the current fiscal year, spurring Gov. Jared Polis to call the special session and sending the Democratic majority into a scramble to rebalance the books and shore up state services.
The $246k was not sportsmenās dollars. It was originally appropriated from the General Fund for wolf reintroduction, as using Wildlife Cash Fund money is prohibited. The ācompromiseā here is that the reintroduction will be defunded, but not paused. That allows the Governor/wolf advocates to find other sources of funding, likely private, to continue.
RojoGrande
Active member
Oak, thanks for the clarification. The article didn't make it clear. It just said "The state estimated the bill would transfer $264,268 from CPW to the Health Insurance Affordability Cash Fund, which helps Coloradans pay for their health insurance.", which makes it appear as if funds are taken from CPW and transferred to another department. If the funds originated from the General Fund then they can re-appropriate.
The OBBB has noting to do with the budget hole CO is facing. My State House Rep ( a "D") who is on the appropriations committee raised the $1.2B deficit issue facing CO during a mid-February town hall he held and which I attended to get his feedback on the pending gun-ownership ban bill that was started in the Senate. His explanation then was that Dem leadership and budget folks were banking on a 6%+ inflation rate and the resulting tax receipts that would be generated when setting 2025 spending based on the 2024 budget. The reality was that CO experienced an inflation rate that was 3% less than expected. Thus with a $40B 2024 budget and 3% less tax revenues, you get the $1.2B lower revenue stream that was expected. I will leave it up to individual HT readers to decide whether that rationale works for them. The point being is all of this was known long before the OBBB happened. CO Dems are just trying to shift the blame now to a convenient scapegoat.
elkduds
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While the House debated budget bills, the Senate passed bills to help fund food stamps and Planned Parenthood after cuts at the federal level. It also passed a bill that prevents taxpayer dollars from being used to reintroduce more gray wolves in Colorado next year.
The state planned to spend $264,000 to do so, on top of the $3.5 million it's already spent on the program.
"That money that was gonna originally be spent on getting those new wolves is instead going to go to something more immediately needed for Coloradans, which is lowering our health insurance costs," said Democratic state Rep. Dylan Roberts, the bill sponsor out of Routt County.
Roberts said he and Republican state Sen. Marc Catlin of Montrose made a deal with Gov. Polis, who planned to veto the bill. Instead of pausing the wolf reintroduction program, the new wolves will be funded with fees or donations from the governor's office or Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
"We decided that moving the ball forward a little bit was better than no movement at all," Roberts said.
The state planned to spend $264,000 to do so, on top of the $3.5 million it's already spent on the program.
"That money that was gonna originally be spent on getting those new wolves is instead going to go to something more immediately needed for Coloradans, which is lowering our health insurance costs," said Democratic state Rep. Dylan Roberts, the bill sponsor out of Routt County.
Roberts said he and Republican state Sen. Marc Catlin of Montrose made a deal with Gov. Polis, who planned to veto the bill. Instead of pausing the wolf reintroduction program, the new wolves will be funded with fees or donations from the governor's office or Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
"We decided that moving the ball forward a little bit was better than no movement at all," Roberts said.
elkduds
Well-known member
Gov Jared Polis called the legislature back to work to address a $750 million budget shortfall after passage of President Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
It cut taxes, which means less revenue for Colorado. Colorado is one of four states that links its tax code to the federal one.
No disagreement. And if the OBBB resulted in an additional $750M projected revenue deficit on top of the original $1.2B deficit, then the case should be presented as such. The reality is that the CO Dems are casting the original $1.2B deficit as a OBBB impact and trying to campaign on that issue going into 2026. But HT is not the forum to have this discussion so I will leave the topic.
elkduds
Well-known member
Note the funding sources for continuing wolf reintro next year, mentioned in the article: Gov's discretionary budget and CPW. Voters were promised CPW license revenue funding would never be used for reintro.
![giphy[1].gif](https://www.hunttalk.com/data/attachments/352/352885-942bd29aa6281584bf846fc4591d71b9.jpg "giphy[1].gif")
rustednuts
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Colorado really is turning into the Massachusetts of the west, what a mess.
bayoublaster7527
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Yes and no. Believe he has lived in both Colorado and California, Boulder more specifically and for the longest period. He may have received funds at some point from a Soros-backed PAC, most Dems have, however, Polis has mostly self-funded his campaigns, either directly or through his own PACs. He was the third richest member of Congress when serving as the Boulder House Rep. He was one of four Colorado millionaire and liberal activist donors referred to as āthe Four Horsemenā who are credited with shifting Colorado to a single party state dominated by Dems. They poured millions into the state Dem party and progressive causes over the past two decades. Essentially purchasing complete political power at the state level.
To bring this back home to HT, Polis has been the most anti-hunting Governor in the stateās history. Colorado has had a long run of Dem Governors who were actually favorable to hunters. His two terms have set the conditions for a wave of anti-hunting organizations to take up residence in Colorado with an army of paid activists, while also tilting the wildlife commission heavily against sportsmen and women.
He spent $12.6 million of his own money on his 2022 reelection campaign, where he wasnāt seriously challenged. Which means that finding $300k to continue wolf reintroduction likely wonāt be difficult.
Like my mom used to say, grab a dictionary/encyclopedia and look it up.
Apparently it has gotten easier.
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