On opening day of the 2015 session, Senate President Bill Cadman and Minority Leader Morgan Carroll had a moment of unity. But both exchanged sharp words on the budget bill Thursday.
A $25 billion state budget crafted by an evenly split committee did little to ease political tensions in the Senate, where the spending plan received final approval Thursday on a 21-14 vote.
Three Democrats broke party lines to join the majority Republicans in that sets aside money for 2 percent pay raises for most state employees, a $187 million in potential taxpayer refunds and $397 million for state construction projects.
Republican leaders allowed only three amendments in the budget bill, rejecting dozens of Democratic attempts in party line votes and even a few GOP measures that split the caucus. The programs added included $750,000 for rural economic development grants and $300,000 for an agriculture leadership initiative.
Senate Minority Leader Morgan Carroll accused Republicans of shutting out Democrats and failing to allow their proposed changes to boost health care, economic incentives and education line items, saying it was a “good day for party discipline.”
“My overall concern is that by shutting us out of the process, you’re shutting out the people we represent, you’re shutting out the middle class,” the Aurora Democrat said.
The Democratic objections drew an incensed retort from Senate President Bill Cadman, who gave a rare speech in which he accused the opposition party of “despicable” rhetoric .
He said the spending plan is largely paying for the programs Democrats put in place. “We are paying for your budget this year,” the Colorado Springs Republican said glaring at Democratic members. “So if you don’t like what happened yesterday you ought to look back in the past and see what you did that you didn’t like. And I’m not even going to ask for an apology.”
The three Democrats to support the budget were Leroy Garcia of Pueblo, John Kefalas of Fort Collins and Pat Steadman of Denver. Steadman supported every aspect of the budget because he helped write it as a member of the Joint Budget Committee.
Because of the split partisan control in the chambers, the budget committee included three Republicans and three Democrats, requiring most line items to get bipartisan support to win approval.
The legislation now moves to the House, where Democrats may make a number of prominent changes when they consider the bill next week.
