TITLE: CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE FISCAL POLICIES OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN COLORADO.

STATE FISCAL IMPACT SUMMARY	FY 1998/99	FY 1999/2000
State Revenues General Fund Other Fund
State Expenditures General Fund Other Fund	$125,240	$104,515
FTE Position Change	2.5 FTE	2.5 FTE
Local Government Impact — Local governments, including counties, municipalities, special districts, and school districts, would be represented on the Fiscal Policies Study Task Force.

This bill would create a 6-member Legislative Review Committee to oversee the study of state and local government fiscal policies. Membership of the committee would include three members of the House of Representatives and three members of the Senate, and would be required to complete a legislative proposal on or before October 15, 2000. Members of the committee would consult with members of a 24-member Fiscal Policies Study Task Force. Task force members would include 20 members appointed by the Governor, two members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and two members appointed by the President of the Senate. Task force members would not be members of the General Assembly, and would serve without compensation.

∙ evaluate the overall effectiveness and impact of state and local government fiscal policies;

∙ communicate with and obtain input from groups throughout the state affected by state and local government fiscal policies;

∙ create subcommittees or subgroups as necessary to aid in the completion of the task force study and the development of a legislative proposal for changes to state and local fiscal policies, including changes to government organization and structure; and

Issues to be addressed by the task force study and proposed legislation for changing state and local government fiscal policies are identified in the bill. The task force for the study of state and local government fiscal policies would be authorized to receive contributions, grants, services, and in-kind donations from any private entity to be expended for direct or indirect costs associated with the duties of the task force.

The Director of Research of the Legislative Council, the Director of the Office of Legislative Legal Services, and the Executive Directors of the Departments represented on the task force would supply staff assistance to the Legislative Review Committee as deemed appropriate.

The bill will become effective at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the ninety-day period after adjournment sine die of the General Assembly, or on the date of the official declaration of the vote of the people as proclaimed by the Governor, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to Article V, Section 1 (3) of the State Constitution.

The bill specifies that the Director of Research of the Legislative Council and the Director of the Office of Legislative Legal Services shall provide staff assistance to the Legislative Review Committee, as deemed appropriate.

The Legislative Council Staff would require the following resources in FY 1998-99 and FY 1999-00 to provide the minimum needed support to the Legislative Review Committee:

Legislative Council Staff Estimated Expenditures
	FY 1998-99	FY 1999-00
Personal Services - 2.5 FTE 1.0 FTE Economist II (89/1) 1.0 FTE Economist I (82/1) 0.5 FTE Staff Asst. (78/1) (includes PERA & Medicare) Subtotal	$40,540 35,052 15,559 $91,151	$40,540 35,055 15,559 $91,151
Operating Expenses	5,000	5,000
Capital Outlay - Furniture	4,000	0
Capital Outlay - Computers (with basic software) Econometric & GIS software	7,500 12,225	3,000
Legislative Member Per Diem and Expenses	$5,364	$5,364
TOTAL COSTS:	$125,240	$104,515

Pursuant to the Joint Budget Committee’s budget policies, the following expenditures have not been included in this fiscal note:

Local governments, including counties, municipalities, special districts, and school districts, would be represented on the Fiscal Policies Study Task Force.

The fiscal note implies that the Legislative Council would require an additional General Fund appropriation in the amount of $125,240 and 2.5 FTE in FY 1998-99 to implement the provisions of the bill.

The Office of State Planning and Budgeting and the Department of Local Affairs have each indicated the need for 1.0 FTE in FY 1998-99 and in FY 1999-00 related to providing staff assistance to the Legislative Review Committee. OSPB requested $52,000 and 1.0 FTE annually for a Budget Analyst III. The Department of Local Affairs requested $48,826 and 1.0 FTE annually to cover personal services costs ($42,826 including PERA, Medicare, short-term disability, health and life insurance), $2,500 for operating expenses, $3,000 for travel, and $500 for costs of the Executive Director of the Department of Local Affairs to attend board meetings. This fiscal note assumes that the level of involvement of these two agencies would not require additional staff resources.