Colorado 2022 2022 Regular Session

Colorado House Bill HB1366 Introduced / Fiscal Note

Filed 04/22/2022

                    Page 1 
April 22, 2022  HB 22-1366  
 
 
  Legislative Council Staff 
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature 
 
Revised Fiscal Note  
(replaces fiscal note dated April 19, 2022)  
 
Drafting Number: 
Prime Sponsors: 
LLS 22-0979  
Rep. Kipp 
Sen. Bridges  
Date: 
Bill Status: 
Fiscal Analyst: 
April 22, 2022 
House Appropriations 
Anna Gerstle | 303-866-4375 
Anna.Gerstle@state.co.us  
Bill Topic: IMPROVING STUDENTS' POSTSECONDARY OPTIONS  
Summary of  
Fiscal Impact: 
☐ State Revenue 
☒ State Expenditure 
☐ State Transfer 
☐ TABOR Refund 
☐ Local Government 
☒ School Districts 
 
The bill creates grant and stipend programs, requires creation of an online tool kit and 
training, and makes other changes to improve postsecondary options for students and 
to increase the number of students completing federal and state financial aid 
applications.  The bill increases state expenditures on an ongoing basis. 
Appropriation 
Summary: 
For FY 2022-23, the bill requires an appropriation of $6,750,000 to multiple state 
agencies.  
Fiscal Note 
Status: 
The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill, as amended by the House Education 
Committee.  It has been updated to reflect new information.  
 
 
Table 1 
State Fiscal Impacts Under HB 22-1366 
 
  
Budget Year 
FY 2022-23 
Out Year 
FY 2023-24 
Out Year 
FY 2024-25 
Revenue 
 
-       -       - 
Expenditures 	General Fund
1
 $6,750,000 $250,000  $250,000  
 	Centrally Appropriated $124,769  $122,513  $69,484  
 	Total Expenditures $6,874,769  $372,513  $319,484  
 	Total FTE          7.1 FTE  7.0 FTE  4.0 FTE  
Transfers  	-       -       - 
Other Budget Impacts General Fund Reserve $1,012,500 $37,500  $37,500  
1
 $6.5 million of the General Fund funding shown in FY 2022-23 may be spent through FY 2024-25; the remainder is 
subject to annual appropriation. 
    Page 2 
April 22, 2022  HB 22-1366  
 
 
Summary of Legislation 
Postsecondary, Workforce, Career, and Education Grant Program.  The bill creates a grant program 
in the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) to provide grants to local education providers (LEPs) 
to distribute information on federal and state financial aid applications, train counselors and other 
educators on best practices to support filling out the applications, assist students and families in 
completing the forms, and incorporate completion of student aid applications into individual career 
and academic plans (ICAPs).  
 
Grants begin in FY 2022-23 and have a term of three years.  The bill requires that the General Assembly 
appropriate $5.0 million from the General Fund, which may be spent over three years.  No more than 
three percent of the money appropriated for the program may be used for administrative expenses. 
 
Financial literacy resource bank.  The bill requires that CDE, in collaboration with Department of 
Higher Education (DHE), update information in the financial literacy resource back to include detailed 
resources about financial aid tools beginning in middle school or earlier, develop financial literacy 
training options aligned with financial aid information, and that include in-demand, high-wage jobs 
and the necessary training leading to those jobs.  The bill requires that the General Assembly 
appropriate $275,000 from the General Fund for the program, which may be spent over three years.  
 
Stipends for financial aid training.  The bill requires that CDE award a $500 stipend to educators 
who successfully complete a training conducted by DHE to improve financial aid application 
completion rates.  The General Assembly must appropriation $200,000 from the General Fund for this 
purpose, which may be spent over three years. 
 
Postsecondary and workforce readiness program.  Under current law, DHE, CDE, and institutions 
of higher education must provide technical assistance to LEPs to implement postsecondary and 
workforce readiness, which may include the following: 
 
 establishing regional coordinators to provide training that aligns with financial aid, financial 
literacy, and supports for financial aid application completion; and 
 requiring regional coordinators to provide training and outreach to schools and coordinate with 
the outreach team in DHE.  
 
The bill requires that the General Assembly appropriate $25,000 to CDE from the General Fund for 
the program, which may be spent over three years.  
 
State financial aid application.  The bill requires that DHE make certain improvements to the 
Colorado application for state financial aid by July 1, 2024, including:  
 
 improving the accessibility and ease of use;  
 conducting focus groups and consulting organizations that support eligible students to streamline 
the application to mirror the federal form;  
 assessing existing website functionality and identifying improvements; and  
 providing support to CDE to assist students and families. 
  Page 3 
April 22, 2022  HB 22-1366  
 
 
The General Assembly must appropriate $320,000 from the General Fund for this purpose, which may 
be spent over three years.  
 
Outreach team.  The DHE must establish an outreach team to provide training to public schools to 
assist them in preparing students to transition from the K-12 system.  The team must also provide 
outreach to individuals in workforce centers, correctional facilities, and foster youth.  The training 
must be available to educators, along with training offered by CDE through the stipend program.  
 
Online tool kit.  The bill requires that DHE develop a tool kit providing free online resources for use 
by higher education administrators, middle and high schools, and non-profit organizations that 
support completion of state and federal financial aid forms.  DHE must update the tool and display 
information on state and federal financial aid application completion rates on a local level, for use by 
school administrators. DHE must report to the relevant legislative committees on the tool kit and data 
on financial aid application completion rates.  The General Assembly must appropriate $680,000 from 
the General Fund for this purpose, which may be spent over three years. 
 
ICAPs.  The bill requires that each public school ensure that counselors or teachers, as part of 
maintaining a student’s ICAP, explain to a student’s legal guardian the availability and importance of 
completing the federal and state financial aid applications, and the availability of assistance to 
complete the forms if needed.   
State Expenditures 
The bill increases state expenditures in CDE and DHE by $6.2 million in FY 2022-23, $803,961 in 
FY 2023-24, and $481,149 in FY 2024-24, paid from the General Fund. Expenditures are shown in 
Table 2 and detailed below.  The fiscal note assumes that the amounts identified in the bill will be 
appropriated in FY 2022-23 and spent over three years in CDE, and two years in DHE.  
 
Table 2 
Expenditures Under HB22-1366
2
  
 
 
Cost Components 	FY 2022-23 FY 2023-24 FY 2024-25 
Department of Education             
Personal Services 	$217,228  $168,677  $159,100  
Operating Expenses 	$3,780  $2,700  $2,565  
Capital Outlay Costs 	$18,600  	-  -  
Grants 	$4,699,145  	- - 
Resource Bank & Training Materials $28,205  	- - 
Teacher Training Stipends 	$200,000  	- - 
Centrally Appropriated Costs
1
 	$45,540  $35,173  $35,173  
FTE – Personal Services 	2.6 FTE 2.0 FTE 2.0 FTE 
CDE Subtotal 	$5,212,498  $206,550  $196,838   Page 4 
April 22, 2022  HB 22-1366  
 
 
Table 2 
Expenditures Under HB22-1366
2
 (Cont.) 
 
Department of Higher Education   
Personal Services 	$380,525  $335,569  -  
Operating Expenses 	$6,750  $5,400  -  
Capital Outlay Costs 	$31,000  	-  -  
Online Toolkit for Financial Aid Apps $362,903  	-  -  
State Financial Aid App Improvements $119,690  	-  -  
Outreach Team Costs 	$89,061  $88,203  $88,203  
Centrally Appropriated Costs
1
 	$79,229  $87,340  $34,311  
FTE – Personal Services 	4.5 FTE 4.0 FTE 2.0 FTE 
DHE Subtotal 	$1,069,158  $597,411  $284,311  
Total $6,281,656  $803,961  $481,149  
Total FTE 7.1 FTE 7.0 FTE 4.0 FTE 
1
 Centrally appropriated costs are not included in the bill's appropriation. 
2
 Non-personal services costs are shown in FY 2022-23 for informational purposes, but may be spent in 
subsequent years, depending on the bill specifications.  
 
Colorado Department of Education.  The CDE will require staff to oversee the new programs under 
the bill, and will have costs to issue grants and stipends, and to provide training materials, as 
described below. 
 
 Staffing.  CDE requires 2.6 FTE in FY 2022-23 and 2.0 FTE in FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 to 
implement the bill.  Of this amount, 1.7 FTE are required to implement the grant program, 
including assistance to potential grantees, reviewing applications, awarding grants, and 
contracting, and 1.0 FTE is required to update and maintain the financial literacy bank, administer 
teacher training stipends, and conduct training for the new programs.  An additional 0.1 FTE will 
oversee regional coordinators. Standard operating and capital outlay costs are included. 
 
 Grants.  After three years of administrative costs, there will be $4.7 million available in grants to 
LEPs to improve training, materials, and resources to improve completion of financial aid 
applications.  
 
 Training materials and resource bank.  After administrative expenses, $28,205 will be available 
for training materials, such as purchasing materials for the resource bank, training modules, or in-
person training costs.  
 
 Teacher training stipends.  The bill provides $500 stipends for teachers who complete training on 
improving financial aid information for students and families.  The $200,000 dedicated to this 
purpose will cover stipends for 400 teachers.  
 
   Page 5 
April 22, 2022  HB 22-1366  
 
 
Department of Higher Education.  The DHE will have costs for staff, developing the online tool kit, 
and other tasks, as described below.  
 
 Staffing. DHE requires new staff for two years only to implement the bill, including 2.0 FTE that 
are required to develop and implement the online tool kit, 1.0 FTE to make improvements to the 
Colorado student financial aid application, and 2.0 FTE to establish the outreach team and conduct 
outreach to school districts, workforce centers, and correctional facilities.  The FTE for the outreach 
team are assumed to be ongoing, and may be covered by the institution indirect cost recoveries in 
future years.  FTE are prorated in the first year for the General Fund paydate shift, and standard 
operating and capital outlay costs are included. 
 
 Online toolkit.  After administrative expenses, $363,443 will be available to make upgrades to the 
financial aid portal, create the tool kit, and compile reporting requirements.  
 
 Colorado student financial aid application improvements.  After administrative expenses, 
$119,860 will be used for software and portal improvements.  
 
 Outreach team.  The fiscal note assumes that $250,000 per year will be available for the outreach 
team, to be spent over two years.  After administrative expenses, about $88,000 per year will be 
available for travel costs, training, and materials associated with the outreach team.   
 
Centrally appropriated costs. Pursuant to a Joint Budget Committee policy, certain costs associated 
with this bill are addressed through the annual budget process and centrally appropriated in the Long 
Bill or supplemental appropriations bills, rather than in this bill.  These costs, which include employee 
insurance and supplemental employee retirement payments, are shown in Table 2. 
Other Budget Impacts 
General Fund reserve.  Under current law, an amount equal to 15 percent of General Fund 
appropriations must be set aside in the General Fund statutory reserve in FY 2022-23.  Based on this 
fiscal note, the bill is expected to increase the amount of General Fund held in reserve by the amounts 
specified in Table 1, which will decrease the amount of General Fund available for other purposes. 
School District  
The bill will increase revenue for any school district that receives a grant.  Workload for school districts 
will increase to participate in the programs created by the bill and to adjust ICAP procedures to 
include financial aid application specified in the bill.  
Technical Note 
For the Postsecondary, Workforce, Career, and Education Grant Program, the bill specifies that CDE 
may not use more than 3 percent of the annual appropriation for administrative expenses. 
Administrative costs in each of the three years are below this threshold, but total administrative costs 
over three years will exceed 3 percent of the required $5.0 million appropriation for FY 2022-23 in the 
bill.   Page 6 
April 22, 2022  HB 22-1366  
 
 
Effective Date 
The bill takes effect upon signature of the Governor, or upon becoming law without his signature. 
State Appropriations 
In FY 2022-23, the bill requires the following General Fund appropriations: 
 
 $5,500,000 to the Colorado Department of Education, and 2.6 FTE; and  
 $1,250,000 to the Department of Higher Education, and 4.5 FTE. 
State and Local Government Contacts  
Education  Higher Education 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each 
fiscal year.  For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit:  leg.colorado.gov/fiscalnotes.