Capital Development Committee votes to send letter opposing HB 1301’s funding structure

The Capital Development Committee voted to send a letter to the committee of reference recommending that House Bill 1301 not be supported, citing concerns about the bill’s capital funding structure and reliance on excise taxes to finance a proposed mental-health hospital in Aurora.

Representative John Marshall, the bill sponsor, told the committee the proposal identifies a parcel near the Anschutz campus in Aurora for a "long term civil commitment" hospital to serve patients with serious mental illness. "We have this parcel of land in Aurora already ready to go on around the Anschutz campus area," Marshall said, arguing Colorado has lost inpatient capacity since the 1960s and that many people who need care are now homeless or in jails.

Marshall said the project under consideration would provide a conservative minimum of 50 beds (the project estimates 50–70 beds) and that locating the facility near Denver would reduce lengthy transports that county sheriffs currently make to distant hospitals. He described an early financing concept that would increase excise taxes on alcohol and controlled substances and estimated that approach could raise about $44,000,000 a year; construction estimates in staff materials were described in discussion as roughly $91 million to $95 million and Marshall said operational assumptions were about $1,200–$1,300 per bed. "It works out to like 3¢ a 6 pack," he said when describing one excise-tax scenario.

Committee members expressed reservations about dedicating a permanent, project-specific revenue stream at the state level. The vice chair said she appreciated the need but was "concerned about the financial structure, the excise tax on marijuana and liquor" and warned that creating a standalone funding source for a capital project could set an undesirable precedent. Senator Hendrickson said he shares the goal of increasing mental-health capacity but had "heartburn with the bill itself and the mechanism," arguing the committee should not start a new precedent of single-project taxes at the state level.

Nina Forbes of legislative council staff told members they could direct staff to draft a letter either recommending the legislation or not, and noted the bill was scheduled for the House Health Committee next Wednesday and the JBC had requested a joint meeting the day before, limiting time for a separate CDC meeting.

After brief discussion, the vice chair moved that the CDC send a letter to the committee of reference "to not recommend 1301, given the concerns that have been expressed relative to the capital construction structure of the bill." The committee called the roll; the transcript records Henriksen as "Aye," Pelton as "Aye," Story as "Yes," Winter as "Pass" and Lindsay as excused. The chair announced the motion passed and the committee adjourned.

The action does not constitute a formal rejection by the full legislature; rather, CDC members directed staff to transmit the committee’s recommendation to the committee of reference. The House Health Committee will still consider HB 1301 at its scheduled hearing.