The House gave preliminary approval to the state’s $17.6 billion budget Wednesday night as lawmakers battled to get money for pet programs.
Democratic House leaders portrayed the budget as a prudent spending plan that boosts funding for early childhood education, schools and health care.
“Our goal is to invest in our children’s future,” said Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, the chairman of the Joint Budget Committee.
Republicans, though, zeroed in on the 1,334 new state employees who would be hired under the budget.
Rep. Douglas Bruce, R-Colorado Springs, said the spending plan represented the “steady march of this government toward socialism.”
“I suggest it is not for the children,” he said in response to Buescher. “The children of Colorado should have a chance to grow up in freedom and experience limited government.”
Democrats defeated dozens of Republican amendments, including one that sought to lower the caps on tuition increases proposed in this year’s budget, set at 9 percent for the state’s largest universities.
Republicans wanted to limit tuition increases to the rate of inflation. Invoking political buzz words often used by Democrats, GOP lawmakers said they wanted to stand up for “working families” by limiting tuition increases.
But Democrats like House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, said such a cap would be too low for universities.
“If we want to help the higher education system, some of the tuitions are go to have to increase,” Madden said.
The amendment failed.
However, Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, successfully added an amendment that would take $1.5 million in gambling revenues normally used for roads in casino towns and divert that money to community colleges. Those schools would use the money to develop courses on renewable energy.
Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, failed again this year in an attempt to cut funding for death-penalty prosecutions in favor of bolstering the CBI cold-case unit. His measure would have provided CBI with $376,643 from the attorney general’s office that now has four paid staff positions to aid prosecutors in death penalty cases.
Weissmann said the state has only executed one person in 40 years, and there is only one inmate on death row now. There are just seven death penalty cases being prosecuted in the state right now, he said.
But Republican opponents painted the amendment, which failed on a 33-31 vote, as anti-death penalty.
Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, offered an amendment, which was defeated, that would have taken $150,000 from Gov. Bill Ritter’s office for legal costs to defend the state in a lawsuit challenging a mill levy freeze that opponents say was effectively a tax increase.
“The governor does not have to be involved in this lawsuit, should not be involved in this lawsuit, in my opinion,” Balmer said.
Balmer’s amendment would have diverted the $150,000 to the Colorado State Forest Service to fight wildfires.
The House must approve the budget once more before it can move to the Senate.
Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com
