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HB26-1363 • 2026

Temporarily Reduce General Fund Reserve

Joint Budget Committee. Under current law, the general fund reserve requirement is equal to 15% of the amount appropriated for expenditure from the general fund for that fiscal year minus: The differe

Budget
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Rep. K. Brown, Rep. E. Sirota, Sen. J. Amabile, Sen. J. Bridges, Rep. R. Taggart, Sen. B. Kirkmeyer
Last action
2026-04-14
Official status
Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to Senate Committee of the Whole
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide detailed information about how the adjustment to the reserve requirement will be calculated beyond specifying percentages for fiscal years. The candidate explanation included details that are not supported by the provided official summary.

Temporarily Reduce General Fund Reserve

This bill temporarily reduces the reserve requirement for Colorado's general fund from 15% to 13% for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27, then returns it to 15% starting in 2027-28.

What This Bill Does

  • Reduces the reserve requirement for Colorado's general fund from 15% to 13% for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27.
  • Restores the reserve requirement back to 15% starting in fiscal year 2027-28.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The state government, particularly those managing Colorado's budget and finances.

Terms To Know

General Fund
A fund that holds money for the general use of the state government to cover various expenses.
Reserve Requirement
The amount of money that must be kept in reserve from the total budgeted funds, usually as a percentage.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if the conditions for adjusting the reserve requirement do not occur.
  • It is unclear how this change will affect state finances beyond fiscal year 2026-27.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

L.002

Second Reading

Lost [**]

Plain English: The amendment temporarily reduces the general fund reserve requirement for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27, with specific percentages and conditions.

  • Reduces the general fund reserve requirement from 15% to 12.74% of appropriations for fiscal year 2025-26.
  • Sets the reserve requirement at 13% for fiscal year 2026-27, with an additional reduction of $41.25 million if certain conditions are met.
  • The exact impact and implementation details depend on specific financial conditions not fully detailed in the amendment text.
  • Some parts of the original bill's text were cut off, making it difficult to provide a complete summary.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-14 Senate

    Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to Senate Committee of the Whole

  2. 2026-04-13 Senate

    Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Appropriations

  3. 2026-04-11 House

    House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

  4. 2026-04-10 House

    House Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments

  5. 2026-04-09 House

    House Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments

  6. 2026-04-08 House

    House Second Reading Special Order - Laid Over Daily - No Amendments

  7. 2026-04-07 House

    House Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole

  8. 2026-04-02 House

    Introduced In House - Assigned to Appropriations

Official Summary Text

Joint Budget Committee.
Under current law, the general fund reserve requirement is equal to 15% of the amount appropriated for expenditure from the general fund for that fiscal year minus:
The difference between $100,000,000 and the proceeds of the sale of insurance premium and corporate tax credits that are credited to the health insurance affordability cash fund; and
Unless money held in an escrow account in connection with the university of northern Colorado's college of osteopathic medicine is released, an additional $41,250,000.
The bill lowers the reserve requirement to 13% for state fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27 and then raises it back to 15% for state fiscal years 2027-28 and later.
(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Second Regular Session
Seventy-fifth General Assembly
STATE OF COLORADO
REENGROSSED
This Version Includes All Amendments
Adopted in the House of Introduction
LLS NO. 26-0989.01 Pierce Lively x2059 HOUSE BILL 26-1363
House Committees Senate Committees
Appropriations
A BILL FOR AN ACT
CONCERNING A TEMPORARY REDUCTION IN THE GENERAL FUND101
RESERVE. 102
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does
not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill
passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that
applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at
http://leg.colorado.gov.)
Joint Budget Committee. Under current law, the general fund
reserve requirement is equal to 15% of the amount appropriated for
expenditure from the general fund for that fiscal year minus:
! The difference between $100,000,000 and the proceeds of
the sale of insurance premium and corporate tax credits that
are credited to the health insurance affordability cash fund;
HOUSE
3rd Reading Unamended
April 11, 2026
HOUSE
2nd Reading Unamended
April 9, 2026
HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
Brown and Sirota, Taggart,
SENATE SPONSORSHIP
Amabile and Bridges, Kirkmeyer
Shading denotes HOUSE amendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment.
Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material to be added to existing law.
Dashes through the words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law.
and
! Unless money held in an es crow account in connection
with the university of northern Colorado's college of
osteopathic medicine is released, an additional
$41,250,000.
The bill lowers the reserve requirement to 13% for state fiscal
years 2025-26 and 2026-27 and then raises it back to 15% for state fiscal
years 2027-28 and later.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:1
SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 24-75-201.1, amend2
(1)(d)(XXVII) introductory portion and (1)(d)(XXVII)(A); and add3
(1)(d)(XXVIII) as follows:4
24-75-201.1. Restriction on state appropriations - legislative5
declaration - definitions.6
(1) (d) For each fiscal year, unrestricted general fund year-end7
balances must be retained as a reserve in the following amounts:8
(XXVII) For the fiscal year 2025-26 and each fiscal year9
thereafter, fifteen THE FISCAL YEAR 2026-27, THIRTEEN percent of the10
amount appropriated for expenditure from the general fund for that fiscal11
year minus:12
(A) The amount calculated by th e state treasurer in accordance13
with section 10-16-1206 (1.5)(a)(II)(B); except that this subsection14
(1)(d)(XXVII)(A) takes effect on January 1, 2026, only if the condition15
specified in section 10-16-1209 (1) occurs; and16
(XXVIII) FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2027-28, AND EACH FISCAL YEAR17
THEREAFTER, FIFTEEN PERCENT OF THE AMOUNT APPROPRIATED FOR18
EXPENDITURE FROM THE GENERAL FUND FOR THAT FISCAL YEAR MINUS:19
(A) T HE AMOUNT CALCULATED BY THE STATE TREASURER IN20
ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 10-16-1206 (1.5)(a)(II)(B); AND21
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(B) S O LONG AS THE ESCROW MONEY IS NOT RELEASED AS SET1
FORTH IN SECTION 23-40-107, FORTY-ONE MILLION TWO HUNDRED FIFTY2
THOUSAND DOLLARS. AS USED IN THIS SUBSECTION (1)(d)(XXVIII)(B),3
"ESCROW MONEY" HAS THE MEANING SET FORTH IN SECTION 23-40-1074
(2)(c).5
SECTION 2. Safety clause. The general assembly finds,6
determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate7
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or for appropriations for8
the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and state9
institutions.10
1363-3-