The Colorado House on May 3 adopted Senate Bill 310 to implement Proposition 130, the ballot measure directing state support for public-safety recruitment and retention.

Under the implementation plan approved by the legislature, the general fund reserve will make a $500 million allocation that will be invested through the Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA) investment program; the legislature expects that investment returns will fund up to $35 million per year for the program for up to 10 years. Supporters said the approach preserves the reserve as an asset while using PERA’s long-term investment returns to generate the program payments.

Representative Luck raised concerns about the mechanism, calling the reserve an "emergency reserve" and asking why the General Fund could not cover $35 million annually. He also warned that investing reserves carries market risk: "I am concerned...you put that in to these kinds of investments and it is less secure of an investment such that we could see diminishing returns," he said.

Representative Taggart, a member of budget leadership, said the $500 million remains part of the reserve and that PERA’s long-term return (discussed in debate as about 7.2 percent) made the approach feasible; Taggart also noted the plan includes a floor so the annual amount will not fall below $15 million and that if necessary future legislatures would make the program a priority to meet obligations.

Other members emphasized the limits of the program — that the $35 million is new state money aimed at bolstering law‑enforcement recruitment and retention following the voter-approved measure — and recognized it would not fully cover every agency’s needs but would provide new funds statewide. Representative Clifford and others praised the compromise needed to implement the voter mandate while navigating a constrained budget year.

Ending

The House approved the implementation mechanism and moved the bill forward. Sponsors said funds would begin flowing next year; opponents flagged liquidity and market risks from routing reserve funds into PERA investments and said they wanted continued oversight from budget committees as the program is launched.