Gov. John Hickenlooper’s budget proposal was peppered with questions about what a Trump presidency could mean to the state’s bottom line on Monday at the Capitol.
The Joint Budget Committee is already dealing a $500 million budget deficit for next year. Now there are even more unknown factor, including how a Trump Administration would deal with Colorado’s legal marijuana industry -- and the impact on its revenue.
Hickenlooper told committee members that his team is studying constitutional protections in light of the uncertainty.
“We’ve put a lot of time in this experiment. And while we feel we have a lot of places to improve, in many regards it seems to be a very positive effort on many levels," he said.
Committee members also wondered what possible changes to the Affordable Care Act could mean for the budget. And there's talk that Trump could shift the financial burden of Medicaid onto states through federal block grants.
“I think one thing that may characterize this upcoming session is a lot of uncertainty," said Republican stat Sen. Kent Lambert, who chairs the Joint Budget Committee.
The legislative session Lambert refers to begins in January.
