TITLE: CONCERNING CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES IN COLORADO, AND, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, IMPOSING A MORATORIUM ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES AND ESTABLISHING A LEGISLATIVE TASK FORCE TO STUDY CRIMINAL SENTENCING POLICIES OF THE STATE.

Fiscal Impact	FY 1999/2000	FY 2000/2001
State Revenues General Fund
State Expenditures General Fund	$17,166	$17,166
FTE Position Change	0.4 FTE	0.4 FTE
Other State Impact: None.
Effective Date: Upon signature of the Governor.
Appropriation Summary for FY 1999-2000: $17,166 to the Legislative Department --of this amount, $1,782 to the General Assembly; $11,707 to the Legislative Council; and $3,677 to the Office of Legislative Legal Services.
Local Government Impact: None.

This revised fiscal note replaces the fiscal note dated February 21, 1999. That revised fiscal note incorrectly reported that the Senate Judiciary Committee amendment of February 1, 1999, did not change the bill’s provision that prohibits the Department of Corrections (DOC) from issuing new requests for proposals for the privatization of correctional facilities until July 1, 2002. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s amendment struck that provision from the bill, hence, should the bill pass as amended by the Judiciary Committee, the DOC could continue to issue new requests for proposals for the privatization of correctional facilities. This correction does not alter the fiscal information contained in the February 21, 1999, fiscal note.

On February 1, 1999, the Senate Judiciary Committee acted to strike all language from the printed bill concerning the imposition of a moratorium on the construction of new correctional facilities. As amended, the bill would permit the Department of Corrections to continue to construct legislatively approved facilities. The provision concerning a prohibition from issuing new requests for proposals for the privatization of correctional facilities until July 1, 2002, also was struck by the amendment.

The bill establishes a legislative task force to study criminal sentencing policies in Colorado. The task force will consist of six members to be appointed by the House Speaker and the Senate President and each member will receive compensation. The bill specifies the duties of the task force and the specific areas that must be analyzed. The task force shall submit two reports to a joint meeting of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees: (1) an interim report on the status of the task force to be submitted on or before September 1, 2000, and (2) a final report that contains recommendations established by the task force to be submitted on or before September 1, 2001.

The bill specifies the task force is to receive staff assistance from Legislative Council. Assuming the task force will meet 4 times during FY 1999-00 for preparation of the interim report and 4 times in FY 2000-01 to complete the final report, meeting costs and staff resource requirements are identified in Table 1. Legislative members will be compensated as set forth in Section 2-2-307, C.R.S. (during the interim -- actual and necessary expenses are $99 per diem per meeting). The average expense reimbursement for all members is estimated to be $50 per meeting.

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

If this bill is not approved by the Legislative Council as part of the regular interim studies currently budgeted, the Legislative Department would require a total General Fund appropriation of $17,166 and 0.4 FTE to implement the provisions of the bill for FY 1999-00. Of this amount, the General Assembly would require a General Fund appropriation of $1,782, the Legislative Council would require a General Fund appropriation of $11,707 and 0.3 FTE General Fund and the Office of Legislative Legal Services would require a general Fund appropriation of $3,677 and 0.1 FTE.

TABLE 1 ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT - FY 1999-00 SENTENCING POLICIES TASK FORCE
	ASSUMPTIONS / CALCULATIONS	TOTAL EXPENDITURES
Legislator Expense Reimbursement (interim --6 members)	$50/day x 6 x 4 meetings	$1,200
Legislator Per Diem (6 members)	$99/day x 6 x 4 meetings	$1,782
Legislative Council Staff (Includes PERA and Medicare)	0.3 FTE Research Staff	$10,507
Legal Services Staff (Includes PERA and Medicare)	0.1 FTE Staff Attorney	$3,677
Total Net Costs		$17,166 0.4 FTE