Colorado is planning to spend over $26 million in next year's budget on additional capacity to address rising inmate populations, making it harder for state lawmakers to balance a budget with a $1.5 billion shortfall. This has been criticized by progressive Democrats working to reduce incarceration rates. The $46.8 billion budget package includes $13 million for an additional 941 prison beds, including 153 at private facilities, $11.5 million to increase payments to private prison operators such as CoreCivic. The increase in the prison population comes as Colorado sees declining crime rates and increasing numbers of inmates eligible for parole but not yet released.