Colorado directs recovery money into its main budget account

The state treasurer must move $35,721,372.99 into the general fund, the state's main budget account. The transfers draw from five state accounts tied to recovery spending and transportation. The transfers include $27,905,384 from the refinance discretionary account and $4,085,246.49 from the revenue loss restoration fund. They also include $1,974,702.20 from the economic recovery and relief fund, $1,005,850.24 from the behavioral and mental health fund, and $750,190.06 from the state highway fund. For the four transfers outside the refinance discretionary account, the money must not come from federal coronavirus recovery funding. All five transfers are required on June 30, 2026.

The Department of Human Services may use remaining construction money for the neuro-psych facility, which provides brain-related mental health care, at Fort Logan. The construction funding covers the neuro-psych facility at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan. The construction budget totals $35 million: $30,236,662 from the general fund and $4,763,338 from federal coronavirus recovery funding. Unspent money set aside for this construction is exempt from the December 31, 2026, transfer back to the ARPA refinance state money fund. On June 30, 2027, the treasurer must move remaining nonfederal money in the behavioral and mental health fund to the general fund if it is neither spent nor committed. Federal money remains covered by the state's rules for committing and spending federal coronavirus recovery funding. Construction money unspent before July 1, 2023, remains available through December 31, 2026, for the federal share and through June 30, 2027, for the state share.

The law sets 2022–23 spending amounts at $2.2 million for a behavioral health services contract and $47,883,011 for early childhood programs. These amounts cover the two departments' 2022–23 budgets and authorize spending rather than guarantee payments to individual providers or families. The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing has $1,245,147 in federal coronavirus recovery money and $954,853 from the general fund for the universal contract for behavioral health services. The Department of Early Childhood has $15,464,449 in federal coronavirus recovery money and $32,418,562 from the general fund. Early childhood amounts include $14,656,182 for child care expansion grants and $14,737,721 for worker recruitment and retention grants and scholarships. They also include $7,492,769 for family, friend, and neighbor caregiver training and support and $996,339 for home visiting grants. Behavioral health contract money unspent before December 30, 2024, remains available for the same purpose before December 31, 2026.