DENVER It will likely take years for Colorado law enforcement agencies to receive hundreds of millions of dollars that voters approved for them in November 2024.Proposition 130, which passed with 53% of the vote, directs the state to provide $350 million to law enforcement agencies to help them recruit, train and retain police officers.Before the money can be sent to law enforcement, state lawmakers must find the money and determine the best way to distribute it.As lawmakers settle in for a new legislative session, police leaders want to make sure lawmakers dont forget about the funding. The Denver Police Department opened the doors of its police academy on Wednesday for lawmakers.We wanted to kind of give them a little bit of an insight into how, that [funding] might help us and to see what our training looks like, said Denver PD Divison Chief of Investigations Rick Kyle. Kyle said finding and keeping good officers has not been easy in recent years.It's a very challenging job. There's dangers to the job, there's risks, and it's very stressful, said Kyle. So we have some people that have opted to try to do different things.DPD is authorized for 1,639 officers. Currently, the department has 1,526 officers, including 54 recruits in the academy.Because attrition rates have increased, department leaders expect they will have to hire hundreds of more officers to hit their authorized staffing by 2028.Its not just Denver PD. Rocco Domenico, a captain with the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) Training Academy, said they have also had problems.The challenge right now is people leaving for different reasons, not wanting to come into law enforcement, said Domenico.The proposition doesnt provide a timeline for when the money must be distributed. State Rep. Chad Clifford, D-Arapahoe County, said it will take time for money from Proposition 130 to get to police, especially given budget constraints.Well, I think that it's predictable that they will have to break this up over time, Clifford said, referring to lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee who, along with the governors staff, put together the budget. From everybody that I've heard, that is what's going to have to happen.Clifford said while its technically possible for lawmakers to take decades to provide the money, its not likely to take that long.Typically, the legislature is good about interpreting voter intent. I would say probably somewhere between seven and 10 years would be the maximum, said Clifford.State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, is an influential member of the Joint Budget Committee. On Wednesday, she provided an update to local law enforcement leaders. Even though the proposition said that it's $350 million, it doesn't mean that we have to be $350 million in one year. And so, it probably will not work out that way, Kirkmeyer said. Right now, I'm anticipating and hoping that we can get it to where it would be at least $35 million [this year]. The proposition also creates a $1 million death benefit for families of law enforcement officers killed while on duty. Kirkmeyer said the death benefit requirement has already started.Police leaders said whatever lawmakers decide, they hope it wont take too long.