Senate Committee of Reference Report

Committee on Appropriations

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April 29, 2025

After consideration on the merits, the Committee recommends the following:

SB25-315     be amended as follows, and as so amended, be referred to the Committee of the Whole with favorable recommendation:

Page 1, Line 1Amend printed bill, page 3, line 18, after "workforce." add

Page 1, Line 2"Therefore, maintaining guaranteed transfer pathways and

Page 1, Line 3cooperative agreements between local education providers and

Page 1, Line 4colleges is beneficial to students in Colorado and to the state

Page 1, Line 5as a whole.".

Page 1, Line 6Page 5, after line 22 insert:

Page 1, Line 7"(3)  "John W. Buckner postsecondary and workforce

Page 1, Line 8readiness innovation grant program" or "innovation grant

Page 1, Line 9program" means the John W. Buckner postsecondary and

Page 1, Line 10workforce readiness innovation grant program created in

Page 1, Line 11section 22-54-204.".

Page 1, Line 12Renumber succeeding subsections accordingly.

Page 1, Line 13Page 6, strike lines 3 through 6.

Page 1, Line 14Renumber succeeding subsections accordingly.

Page 1, Line 15Page 10, strike lines 8 through 11 and substitute "(5)  The department

Page 1, Line 16may not use".

Page 1, Line 17Page 10, line 17, strike "Postsecondary" and substitute "John W.

Page 1, Line 18Buckner postsecondary".

Page 1, Line 19Page 10, line 19, after "the" insert "John W. Buckner".

Page 1, Line 20Page 11, line 10, strike "include:" and substitute "include, but are not

Page 2, Line 1limited to:".

Page 2, Line 2Page 20, line 6, strike "2027," and substitute "2028,".

Page 2, Line 3Page 33, line 20, after "program." insert "For the 2025-26 budget

Page 2, Line 4year, of the five million dollars for the career development

Page 2, Line 5success program, the department may expend an amount that is

Page 2, Line 6necessary to offset the direct and indirect costs incurred in

Page 2, Line 7administering postsecondary and workforce readiness start-up

Page 2, Line 8funding pursuant to section 22-54-203.".

Page 2, Line 9Page 35, strike lines 25 through 27.

Page 2, Line 10Page 36, strike lines 1 through 10.

Page 2, Line 11Renumber succeeding sections accordingly.

Page 2, Line 12Page 37, after line 9 insert:

Page 2, Line 13"SECTION 23.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-91-104, amend

Page 2, Line 14(1), (4), and (5)(a) as follows:

Page 2, Line 1522-91-104.  School counselor corps grant program - application

Page 2, Line 16- criteria - grant awards - rules. (1)  An education provider seeking a

Page 2, Line 17grant from the program shall must submit an application to the school

Page 2, Line 18counselor corps advisory board existing within the department in

Page 2, Line 19accordance with the rules adopted by the state board. The school

Page 2, Line 20counselor corps advisory board shall review each grant application

Page 2, Line 21received and make recommendations to the department and state board

Page 2, Line 22concerning whether a grant should be awarded to the education provider

Page 2, Line 23and the recommended amount of the grant. If the school counselor corps

Page 2, Line 24advisory board determines an application is missing any information

Page 2, Line 25required by rule to be included with the application, the school counselor

Page 2, Line 26corps advisory board may contact the education provider to obtain the

Page 2, Line 27missing information.

Page 2, Line 28(4)  The department and the state board shall consult with experts

Page 2, Line 29in the area of school counseling, including, but not limited to, school

Page 2, Line 30counselors, persons who provide education and professional development

Page 2, Line 31in the areas of school counseling and career counseling, and higher

Page 2, Line 32education admissions officers, in establishing any additional criteria for

Page 2, Line 33awarding grants and in reviewing applications and selecting grant

Page 2, Line 34recipients.

Page 2, Line 35(5) (a)  Subject to available appropriations, the state board

Page 2, Line 36department shall award grants to applying education providers pursuant

Page 3, Line 1to this section. The state board shall base the grant awards on the

Page 3, Line 2department's recommendations. Each grant has a term of four years

Page 3, Line 3beginning in the 2014-15 budget year. In making a grant award, the state

Page 3, Line 4board department shall specify the amount of each grant.".

Page 3, Line 5Renumber succeeding sections accordingly.

Page 3, Line 6Page 37, after line 11 insert:

Page 3, Line 7"SECTION 25.  Appropriation - adjustments to 2025 long bill.

Page 3, Line 8(1)  To implement this act, appropriations made in the annual general

Page 3, Line 9appropriation act for the 2025-26 state fiscal year to the department of

Page 3, Line 10education are adjusted as follows:

Page 3, Line 11(a) The general fund appropriation for use by management and

Page 3, Line 12administration for grants administration is reduced by $3,999;

Page 3, Line 13(b) The appropriation from the state education fund created in

Page 3, Line 14section 17 (4)(a) of article IX of the state constitution for use by school

Page 3, Line 15district operations for state share of districts' total program funding is

Page 3, Line 16increased by $2,257,275;

Page 3, Line 17(c) The appropriation from the state education fund created in

Page 3, Line 18section 17 (4)(a) of article IX of the state constitution for use by school

Page 3, Line 19district operations for extended high school is decreased by $6,703,048;

Page 3, Line 20(d) The general fund appropriation for use by student pathways for

Page 3, Line 21the career development success program is decreased by $4,521,670, and

Page 3, Line 22the related FTE is decreased by 0.6 FTE;

Page 3, Line 23(e)  The appropriation from the marijuana tax cash fund created in

Page 3, Line 24Section 39-28.8-501 (1), C.R.S., for use by student pathways for the

Page 3, Line 25concurrent enrollment expansion and innovation grant program is

Page 3, Line 26decreased by $1,476,948, and the related FTE for college and career

Page 3, Line 27readiness is decreased by 0.3 FTE;

Page 3, Line 28(f)  The general fund appropriation for use by student pathways for

Page 3, Line 29the John W. Buckner automatic enrollment in advanced courses grant

Page 3, Line 30program is decreased by $247,914, and the related FTE is decreased by

Page 3, Line 310.3 FTE.

Page 3, Line 32(2) For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, $5,018,715 is appropriated to

Page 3, Line 33the department of education for use by student pathways. This

Page 3, Line 34appropriation consists of $4,773,583 from the general fund and $245,132

Page 3, Line 35from the state education fund created in section 17 (4)(a) of article IX of

Page 3, Line 36the state constitution. To implement this act, the department may use this

Page 3, Line 37appropriation as follows:

Page 3, Line 38(a)  $482,217 from the general fund for postsecondary workforce

Page 3, Line 39readiness administration, which amount is based on an assumption that

Page 3, Line 40the department will require an additional 5.1 FTE; and

Page 3, Line 41(b)  $4,291,366 from the general fund and $245,132 from the state

Page 4, Line 1education fund created in section 17 (4)(a) of article IX of the state

Page 4, Line 2constitution for postsecondary workforce readiness start-up funding

Page 4, Line 3distributions to local education providers.".

Page 4, Line 4Renumber succeeding sections accordingly.

Page 4, Line 5Page 37, line 13, strike "22, and 23" and substitute "and 22".

Page 4, Line 6Page 1, line 102, strike "programs." and substitute "programs, and,

Page 4, Line 7in connection therewith, making and reducing an

Page 4, Line 8appropriation.".