Legislature faces issues with mascot replacement funding, Republican River
The 2023-24 state budget is now in front of lawmakers at the state Capitol. During the past week, the Senate worked on the $38.5 billion budget, adding $85.5 million in additional spending that included $354,000 in funding for the Yuma school district, intended to help the district pay for the costs of replacing its former Indian mascot.
That amendment came from Sen. Byron Pelton, R-Sterling.
Majority Democrats in the General Assembly passed a law in 2021 requiring all public schools with Indian mascots to replace them, except for two that had preexisting agreements with Indian tribes for the use of their Indian symbols.
More than two dozen schools, including the three in the Yuma district, were required to replace those mascots, at a cost likely to run into the millions of dollars. The sponsors of Senate Bill 21-116, including Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, who frequently points to her farm roots, included in the bill an opportunity for schools to obtain grants to cover part of those costs through the state’s Building Excellent Schools Together (BEST) program.
However, the Department of Education put funding for the mascots at the bottom of the BEST program’s priority list, and to date, no school that has sought a grant has been awarded one, including Yuma.
Pelton’s amendment passed 18-17, with Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, casting the deciding vote.
However, the budget process rarely goes so smoothly, and the amendment was stripped off the budget bill when it was heard in the House Appropriations Committee on Monday. That’s standard for amendments added to the budget bill in its first chamber.
The state Constitution requires the General Assembly to pass a balanced budget and the amendments pushed the budget out of balance.
Pelton told this reporter he would seek a Democratic sponsor for the Yuma amendment as the budget bill goes through the House this week.
Budget overview
The budget, at $38.5 billion, is 8.9% higher than the current year’s budget that ends on June 30. Two-thirds of the additional spending of $1.2 billion goes to one agency – the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which has among its biggest duties Medicaid.
State budget writers explained to this reporter that out of the $844 million more headed to HCPR, half will provide for people on Medicaid who are currently covered under a higher match from the federal government tied to the COVID-19 public health emergency, which ends this month. About 325,000 Coloradans were added to the Medicaid rolls during the pandemic.
Much of the rest goes to pay for a 5% boost in provider rates. That’s for service providers, including medical professionals and social workers. The state is having trouble hanging onto service providers because of the low reimbursement rates.
Per pupil funding in K-12 education is going up by $900 per student, or about $485 million in the 2023-24 budget. But the appropriation for education decreased by $134 million. That’s due to declining enrollment and higher property taxes, which lessened the amount the state must cover in the K-12 budget.
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