Colorado budget briefing: JBC funds more prison beds as members warn policy fixes could reduce need

The House Democratic caucus heard a detailed presentation on the long‑bill corrections package that increases funding for the Department of Corrections to cover rising medical caseloads, higher prescription costs and a projected growth in prison population.

“Our greatest increase in expenditures is actually due to medical caseload,” Representative Sirota said, noting the Long Bill includes new beds and higher private‑prison per diems phased over two fiscal years. Sirota said the committee added a pilot for a Correctional Officer Shift Relief Factor to address overtime costs and staffing shortages, and included a $3.7 million offset related to transgender health care to align spending with recent outlays.

Several legislators pushed back, citing data showing statewide declines in crime. Brett Mabry referenced the Division of Criminal Justice’s mid‑year trend showing decreases across categories and asked how a projected 941‑bed increase squares with falling crime. “How does that projected population growth sync with the decrease in crime…?” Mabry asked.

Representative Sirota and Representative Brown said projections reflect current law, prior sentencing and caseload trends, and that the legislature must fund those projections. Brown said the JBC initially denied an earlier request for new prison facilities and added only a $1 appropriation line for DOC to begin negotiations for private bed space if necessary—requiring a later supplemental request and presentation to justify full appropriation.

Members emphasized alternatives. “If we want to see more people in community corrections instead of DOC, some changes will have to be made,” Sirota said, urging statutory reform on community corrections boards and earned‑time policies. Representative Brooke Garcia argued for prioritizing community supports and rehabilitation, noting the long‑term fiscal tradeoffs of incarceration versus education and health investments.

The caucus also pressed whether supplemental requests would be needed mid‑year. Sirota said a supplemental would be triggered if projections show realized shortfalls, and that private beds would likely require higher per‑diem rates because many mothballed facilities need work to bring beds online—JBC staff cited an approximate private‑bed rate used in discussion of about $115 per day, with the precise footnote rate to be provided.

What happens next: the Long Bill packages and related statutory ‘orbital’ bills remain subject to amendment before second and third reading. Lawmakers told JBC staff they intend to pursue statutory policy options outside the budget process to address prison population drivers; the JBC said it must continue to budget to current law while encouraging those reforms.