Senate Bill 21-227 Summary

• Designates the 2021-22 state emergency reserve as consisting of seven funds and capital assets with combined maximum values totaling approximately $475 million, including the disaster emergency fund ($48M), state emergency reserve cash fund ($201M), marijuana tax cash fund ($100M), major medical insurance fund ($59M), Colorado water conservation board construction fund ($33M), unclaimed property tourism promotion trust fund ($5M), and the capitol annex building at 1375 Sherman Street ($29M).

• Creates a new state emergency reserve cash fund in the state treasury to be funded by a $101 million transfer from the general fund and a $100 million transfer from the controlled maintenance trust fund, both occurring on June 30, 2021.

• Requires that money in the state emergency reserve cash fund only be expended for declared emergencies and permits the governor to transfer funds to the disaster emergency fund if insufficient funds exist.

• Mandates that any reimbursements received by the state for expenditures made from emergency reserve funds be deposited back into the fund from which the money originated, regardless of whether funds were transferred between accounts before being spent.

• Simplifies the minimum emergency reserve requirement to three percent of state fiscal year spending minus annual bonded debt service for all fiscal years, eliminating the previous graduated increases from 1993-1996.