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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk to a woman who is part of the

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<v Speaker 1>Joint Budget Committee. She is State Senator Barb Kirkmeyer. Barb,

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<v Speaker 1>you look well rested. You look like you caught up

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<v Speaker 1>on your sleek a little bit, a little bit, So

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<v Speaker 1>what did the legislature inflict on Coloraden's what did you?

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<v Speaker 2>What did you guys? Do we increase this tax We

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<v Speaker 2>increase taxes? Well I didn't.

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<v Speaker 3>The Democrats and the legislature increased taxes. They took away

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<v Speaker 3>a fee that we pay small businesses retaillers who collect

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<v Speaker 3>our sales tax We took away that fee, that's the

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<v Speaker 3>tune of twelve thousand dollars. It wasn't enough in the

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<v Speaker 3>first place to pay them to collect our sales taxes.

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<v Speaker 3>Typically it costs them about forty eight thousand dollars.

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<v Speaker 2>We took away twelve.

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<v Speaker 3>So now they're putting the bill themselves to collect our taxes.

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<v Speaker 3>And we're selling two hundred and fifty million dollars worth

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<v Speaker 3>of tax credits for two hundred million dollars.

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<v Speaker 2>So we're shortening ourselves fifty million dollars.

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<v Speaker 3>And you know that's it increase taxes by about two

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<v Speaker 3>hundred and fifty million dollars. We're shorten ourselves by fifty

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<v Speaker 3>million dollars in the general fund on the cell of

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<v Speaker 3>tax credits, and we screwed over.

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<v Speaker 2>Small businesses yet again.

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<v Speaker 1>Wait, but they're making sure that planned parenthead gets more money.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, Oh, well that's true. Yes, that was in there. Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>So Barb, I mean we did.

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<v Speaker 3>We did extend the AI bill, the deadline in AI

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<v Speaker 3>artificial intelligence. We extended that to June first of next year.

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<v Speaker 3>So that's a good thing. That was one good thing

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<v Speaker 3>that happened.

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<v Speaker 2>So I actually voted for that.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk about where we are budget wise right now.

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<v Speaker 1>Because the tax increases that you're talking about on small businesses,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a zero percent chance that we're not going to

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<v Speaker 1>see some kind of lawsuits against that. Michael Fields at

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<v Speaker 1>Advance Colorado has already said he's going to add it

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<v Speaker 1>to his lawsuit about other things that violate TABOR.

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<v Speaker 2>So what does that mean? I mean, let's just say.

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<v Speaker 1>A judge puts an injunction on on you know, collecting

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<v Speaker 1>those taxes. What does that mean for our budget right

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<v Speaker 1>this second?

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<v Speaker 3>It means we will be Right now, we are seven

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<v Speaker 3>hundred million dollars in the red to start the next

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<v Speaker 3>budget year, So we have to find that money to

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<v Speaker 3>start even in the next budget year because.

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<v Speaker 2>We have to have balanced budgets.

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<v Speaker 3>So to start off a budget, you've got to have

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<v Speaker 3>a budget that you can close out that's balanced as well,

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<v Speaker 3>and those are that's a constitutional mandate.

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<v Speaker 2>So we had that already in play. That was in

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<v Speaker 2>June eighteenth. We already knew that.

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<v Speaker 3>And then you know, with the passage of HR one,

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<v Speaker 3>which gave us federal tax relief, and because our state

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<v Speaker 3>tax code is tied to the federal tax code, essentially

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<v Speaker 3>when they make changes, it changes ours, we also got

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<v Speaker 3>one point two billion dollars worth of tax relief at

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<v Speaker 3>the state level. So what that ended up doing is

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<v Speaker 3>causing a seven hundred million dollars shortfall, a gap in

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<v Speaker 3>this current fiscal year of tax revenues tax collections, and

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<v Speaker 3>so we were trying to fill the gap. That's what

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<v Speaker 3>we were supposed to be doing. Now, there was nothing

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<v Speaker 3>in the call, which the governor gets to set. Think

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<v Speaker 3>of it as the agenda for the special session. Nothing

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<v Speaker 3>in there that said we could carry any legislation, carry

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<v Speaker 3>a bill to reduce spending. All it was was to

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<v Speaker 3>increase taxes, sell tax credits, and like I said, it's

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<v Speaker 3>screw small businesses out of that fee.

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<v Speaker 1>So where we and you you already we've talked about

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<v Speaker 1>this before, but we're looking at a deficit for next year.

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<v Speaker 1>And was that deficit in place before HR one passed,

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<v Speaker 1>because weren't we offered Yeah, I mean, all of this

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<v Speaker 1>is yes, okay.

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<v Speaker 3>So and then what HR one did is it impacted

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<v Speaker 3>our tax collections because our taxes are going down at

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<v Speaker 3>the state, so we're getting federal tax relief. We're getting

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<v Speaker 3>some state tax relief still to the tune of one

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<v Speaker 3>point two billion dollars. And what that did is it

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<v Speaker 3>increased our you know, they keep calling it revenues.

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<v Speaker 2>Is tax collections.

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<v Speaker 3>Our revenues equal taxes, right, so it's the taxes you

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<v Speaker 3>pay in or our revenues at the state. So our

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<v Speaker 3>tax collections went down as a result of the tax

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<v Speaker 3>breaks at the federal level.

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<v Speaker 2>And the Democrats are so upset.

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<v Speaker 3>God, we had to have a special session just to

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<v Speaker 3>come back and increase some taxes back. So what they

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<v Speaker 3>did is they increased it back from what I was

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<v Speaker 3>trying to figure out. I mean, don't anybody go quote

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<v Speaker 3>me on this number. But it's about two hundred and

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<v Speaker 3>fifty two hundred and fifty three million dollars to try

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<v Speaker 3>and fill that gap.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, the gap was.

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<v Speaker 3>Seven hundred million or more right somewhere in there. So

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<v Speaker 3>now the discussion is going to be tomorrow. The Joint

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<v Speaker 3>Budget Committee is meeting with the governor and he has

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<v Speaker 3>you know, executive order privileges, and he's going to reduce

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<v Speaker 3>spending supposedly, And I hear he's going to reduce spending.

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<v Speaker 2>This is what I hear.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't know. I mean, I'm a Republican. It's not

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<v Speaker 3>like he comes to talk to me about it and

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<v Speaker 3>tells me. But what I'm hearing is he's going to

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<v Speaker 3>reduce spending by cutting Medicaid provider rates, which will effectively

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<v Speaker 3>cut access for over one point two billion people in.

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<v Speaker 2>Our state that are US citizens.

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<v Speaker 3>And he's going to do that, and he's going to

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<v Speaker 3>cut higher EDG and then what I'm hearing is, well,

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<v Speaker 3>we will probably take a third of that. So he's

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<v Speaker 3>going to do those kind of cuts up to two

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<v Speaker 3>hundred and fifty million approximately again my guess, and then

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<v Speaker 3>the last third of our gap, he's going to take

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<v Speaker 3>out the reserves, which I just have to tell you.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, I'm sure you can all hear the frustration

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<v Speaker 3>of my voice, because it is totally stupid.

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<v Speaker 2>To take money out of the reserves.

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<v Speaker 3>When we take money out of the reserves in this

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<v Speaker 3>current fiscal year, we have a statutory reserve requirement of

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<v Speaker 3>fifteen percent.

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<v Speaker 2>We just have to replace it in this fiscal year.

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<v Speaker 2>It does nothing for us other than to say, yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>we're making it look good.

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<v Speaker 3>But really, by the time we get into March of

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<v Speaker 3>twenty twenty six, you're gonna have to replace that because

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<v Speaker 3>we have to have a balanced budget before I can

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<v Speaker 3>before we can introduce the next budget.

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<v Speaker 2>That's how crazy it is.

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<v Speaker 3>And then on top of it all, they sold tax credits,

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<v Speaker 3>so instead of pausing the tax credits.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, tax credits are tax relief.

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<v Speaker 3>So generally Republicans, myself included, we support a lot of

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<v Speaker 3>tech credits, not all of them, but we do support

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of tax credits. So tax credits are tax relief. Okay, well,

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<v Speaker 3>we have over two billion dollars worth of tax credits

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<v Speaker 3>that we give out. Okay, we just fell below the

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<v Speaker 3>tabor cap, which.

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<v Speaker 2>Means we now have no surplus.

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<v Speaker 3>There isn't going to be any tabor refund because there

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<v Speaker 3>is no surplus. So instead of pausing tax credits, those

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<v Speaker 3>goofballs down there said no, no, no, We're going to

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<v Speaker 3>sell two hundred and fifty million dollars worth of tax

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<v Speaker 3>credits for two hundred million dollars. So when they catch

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<v Speaker 3>it in their tax credits sometime in the future when

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<v Speaker 3>we have surplus, there's.

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<v Speaker 2>A constant's fifty million bucks.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, let me clarify what Marv just said, because we

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<v Speaker 1>start talking about this and people are like, I cannot

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<v Speaker 1>keep up. But in order to eliminate taber refunds, this

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<v Speaker 1>is just my take on this, and you can correct

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<v Speaker 1>me if I'm totally wrong, in order to eliminate taber refunds,

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<v Speaker 1>so they could then argue with the ballot box the

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<v Speaker 1>taber is used with anyway, so why do we even

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<v Speaker 1>have it, So then we would take any spending protections

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<v Speaker 1>off of the legislature. They have reallocated all of our

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<v Speaker 1>table refunds using tax credits to other favored groups in

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<v Speaker 1>their minds, maybe it's an expanded earned income tax credit,

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe it's other kinds of tax credits that our table

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<v Speaker 1>refunds are going to go fund. What Barb is saying,

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<v Speaker 1>is why not just do away with those tax credits

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<v Speaker 1>until we have a surplus again? Is that correct?

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<v Speaker 2>Correct? And we didn't even have to get rid of

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<v Speaker 2>all the tax credits we have.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, you know some I mean I don't know

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<v Speaker 3>if I voted for the earned income tax credit, but

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<v Speaker 3>I probably would. I mean, those are the least you know,

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<v Speaker 3>people who can't afford things in our state, right, I mean,

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<v Speaker 3>they're the most vulnerable among us. I mean, they're below

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<v Speaker 3>sixty thousand approximate LAYD dollars in income that's coming in,

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<v Speaker 3>and you know, I don't. I mean, they're probably not

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<v Speaker 3>really paying that many taxes in the first place.

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<v Speaker 2>But let's give them a tax holiday. I'm okay with that.

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<v Speaker 2>But you're right.

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<v Speaker 3>They turned tax credits. They turned our table refunds into

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<v Speaker 3>tax credits for everyone else, and we have over two

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<v Speaker 3>billion of them. All they need to do is pause

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<v Speaker 3>seven hundred million dollars worth of them.

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<v Speaker 2>That's it.

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<v Speaker 1>So somebody just hit the text line Barb and said, Mandy,

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<v Speaker 1>does Barb Kirkmeyer have any comment on the millions of

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<v Speaker 1>dollars of state funded taxpayer grants to legislator run nonprofits?

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<v Speaker 1>And NGOs run by people like Javier Mabriy, Lorena Garcia

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<v Speaker 1>or others. I just saw a stat on X and

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<v Speaker 1>I have not had a chance to look into that stat,

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<v Speaker 1>but it showed how much money was flowing to these NGOs,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is a concerning thing because that starts to

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<v Speaker 1>feel like a slush fund. And we've seen at the

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<v Speaker 1>federal level that Democrats are very unhappy when their NGOs

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<v Speaker 1>stop getting money, not because they're doing anything great, but

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<v Speaker 1>because they're kind of, you know, a circular way to

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<v Speaker 1>circulate more money into Democrat pockets. Is there a chance

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<v Speaker 1>that any of that is happening here?

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<v Speaker 3>Absolutely, I've seen the same things out on X that

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<v Speaker 3>have been being posted.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm just I'm not in session right now.

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<v Speaker 3>And plus then we had to do the special session stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>But I'm not in a regular session.

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<v Speaker 3>But when I get back into the Joint Budget Committee

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<v Speaker 3>come November, I'm going to start looking into that.

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<v Speaker 2>And so my email is very easy. It's capital S. E. N.

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<v Speaker 3>Sen Kirkmeyer k I R K M E Y E

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<v Speaker 3>R at gmail dot com. Send me the information you

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<v Speaker 3>have so I don't have to keep digging all by myself,

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<v Speaker 3>and I'll start wherever you left off and see what

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<v Speaker 3>I can find out, because that not only sounds like

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<v Speaker 3>a conflict of interest to me, it sounds highly unethical

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<v Speaker 3>that we are funding I saw the stuff about Representative

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<v Speaker 3>Garcia on online, and it sounds highly unethical that we

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<v Speaker 3>are funding a state legislator to the tune of millions

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<v Speaker 3>of dollars for her and her family through what's called

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<v Speaker 3>a non governmental organization, a nonprofit organization.

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<v Speaker 2>Essentially.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't know what that nonprofit organization is doing for us,

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<v Speaker 3>but what I do know is we need to start

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<v Speaker 3>cutting in this state, and maybe that's the first place

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<v Speaker 3>we should start.

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<v Speaker 1>Senator Barb Kirkmeyer, from your lips to the governor's ears,

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<v Speaker 1>we both know it's not going to go the way

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<v Speaker 1>we want it to. But I appreciate you and your

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<v Speaker 1>fellow Republicans trying in a special session where the Democrats

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<v Speaker 1>did everything but tell you to shut up and sit down.

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<v Speaker 1>It was, of course they did. Let's talk again soon, Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>all right, thanks for