State lawmakers are trying to figure out how to close a $67 million shortfall in the state budget, even as Gov. Jared Polis signs the budget bill into law.
The shortfall is the result of a big mistake by the Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise. An audit revealed the enterprise has been treating the money it receives as exempt from state revenue limits under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights or TABOR.
State Budget Director Mark Ferrandino says the law that created the enterprise wasn’t clear on whether the money should count toward the TABOR limit. He says the Attorney General’s Office determined last month that it does. That means the state will now owe taxpayers $67 million more in TABOR refunds than anticipated.
Republican State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, who sits on the Joint Budget Committee, is introducing a bill that would use money the enterprise would have received this year and next year to help cover about $33 million of the refund.