During its morning session, the Colorado House Appropriations Committee advanced a package of bills to the Committee of the Whole, including a measure on transition planning for children in foster care (House Bill 10 97), a bill that may affect pension funding arrangements (House Bill 11 05), and a bill committing the state to explore expanding a tribal program (House Bill 11 63).

The committee adopted several amendments to bills on the agenda and then voted to send each measure to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. Most votes were recorded by roll call and resulted in favorable recommendations; a subset of bills prompted substantive discussion on county capacity, child-centered planning and the state’s pension liability.

Representative Gilchrist, sponsor of House Bill 10 97, described amendments that removed a mandatory template and training compliance monitoring requirement and eliminated the fiscal note. “We believe that the bill will still require counties to have these transition placement plans and CDHS can work with them to implement the plans,” Gilchrist said. The sponsor said an exception for the meeting requirement remains in the bill.

Representative McCormick urged the sponsor to further narrow and simplify the bill to “prioritize the experience of the child.” McCormick said counties had reported the meeting requirement creates additional staff time and that some counties lack resources for highly prescriptive planning. “To look at that again and the prescriptive nature of the transition plan,” McCormick said, “the request is to allow a team of child welfare experts to create guidelines for that transition planning.”

Representative Taggart raised similar concerns about county capacity, calling the proposal “an excellent concept” but warning that many counties are “stretched beyond what they can do” and that an “unfunded mandate is just almost impossible to take on at this point.” The committee adopted amendment L007 and later approved the bill on a roll-call vote.

House Bill 11 05, sponsored by Representative Camacho, drew discussion focused on implications for the Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA) funding. Representative Titone said she was willing to support the measure “as long as the amendments that have been discussed are the ones that you have been talking about.” The vice chair expressed opposition pending the sponsor’s forthcoming amendments, emphasizing pension-funding concerns and the effect on Colorado’s credit rating: “To the extent that we have a large unfunded pension liability, our state's credit rating is in jeopardy and the cost of our capital… is in jeopardy,” the vice chair said.

On House Bill 11 63, Representative Taggart described amendment L002 as “a commitment from the department to work with us during the course of this next year to expand this potential program to other indigenous tribes in the state.” Representative Joseph thanked sponsors and said he would vote yes because of the sponsors’ commitment and asked that the work include the broader Native American community. “Please make sure that the broader native community is also included in the work,” Joseph said.

The committee approved all items listed below and forwarded them to the Committee of the Whole with favorable recommendations. Several measures were amended in committee before the roll calls.

Votes at a glance

- House Bill 12 99 — Advanced to Committee of the Whole, favorable recommendation; passed committee vote ~8–3.
- House Bill 10 62 — Advanced to Committee of the Whole, favorable recommendation; passed committee vote 9–2.
- Senate Bill 183 — Advanced to Committee of the Whole, favorable recommendation; passed committee vote 7–4.
- House Bill 11 83 — Advanced to Committee of the Whole, favorable recommendation; passed committee vote 8–3 (amendments L004 and J002 adopted in committee).
- Senate Bill 5 — Advanced to Committee of the Whole, favorable recommendation; passed committee vote 7–4.
- House Bill 10 26 — Advanced to Committee of the Whole, favorable recommendation; passed committee vote 8–3.
- House Bill 10 49 — Advanced to Committee of the Whole, favorable recommendation; passed committee vote 9–2 (amendment L002 adopted allowing video calls and defining authorized representative provisions).
- House Bill 10 97 — Advanced to Committee of the Whole, favorable recommendation; passed committee vote 7–4 (amendment L007 adopted; sponsors removed template/training compliance monitoring and fiscal-note language).
- House Bill 11 05 — Advanced to Committee of the Whole, favorable recommendation; passed committee vote 6–5 (sponsor indicated additional amendments planned on the floor).
- House Bill 11 63 — Advanced to Committee of the Whole, favorable recommendation; passed unanimously (amendment L002 adopted to expand tribal collaboration).
- House Bill 11 95 — Advanced to Committee of the Whole, favorable recommendation; passed committee vote 10–1 (amendment L004 adopted to consolidate statutory language).

What members directed or considered

- Direction to staff and sponsors: Sponsors repeatedly indicated they plan to bring additional amendments on the floor for bills needing further work (for example, HB 10 97 and HB 11 05).
- Concerns raised: County officials’ capacity to implement prescriptive transition-planning requirements; potential pension-funding impacts on PERA and the state’s credit rating; inclusion of broader Native American communities in tribal program work.

Why it matters

The bills advanced affect a range of state functions: transition planning for children exiting foster care could change county workloads and state oversight through CDHS; proposed changes touching PERA funding could affect the state’s fiscal outlook and, members warned, the cost of capital; the tribal program bill signals a commitment to pursue expanded collaboration with indigenous communities. Committee approval sends these items to the Committee of the Whole for further debate and potential floor action.

The committee concluded its morning business and adjourned.