With the economy recovering and more revenue projected in the state’s general fund this year, Colorado lawmakers in the House on Thursday night gave initial approval to a state budget proposal.
After tussling for several hours over a barrage of amendments, they passed a plan with increased cash for wildfire prevention and flood recovery, as well as greater investment in K-12 and higher education.
The $23 billion proposed fiscal year budget is the most money lawmakers have been able to spend in recent years, and represents a $1.1 billion uptick from the current budget.
“This bill has positive impacts on every community all across Colorado,” said state Rep. Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, who is the chair of the Joint Budget Committee, and who helped craft what most simply refer to as the “long bill.”
Democrats and Republicans introduced more than 40 amendments to the bill designed to benefit their constituents. Among the slew of amendments, stark partisan divisions emerged.
Rep. Tim Dore, R-Elizabeth, on Thursday offered an early amendment that would take $1 million from the Colorado Office of Film Television and Media, which has $5 million in subsidies set aside in the budget.
Dore sought to use the money from Gov. John Hickenlooper’s film incentive program for tumbleweed management — an important issue in some rural communities.
“You go down into southeastern Colorado and there’s huge amounts of tumbleweeds, and it’s causing problems for the counties. They need mitigation help,” said Dore, after lawmakers shot down the amendment.
Several amendments were set to be offered to take cash from the film subsidies.
A different amendment, sponsored by Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, called for reallocating $500,000 from the $719 million set aside in the budget for the Department of Corrections.
Salazar’s amendment was passed by lawmakers Thursday and will now go toward homeless prevention programs in the Department of Local Affairs.
The wide majority of amendments from Republicans failed, while those from Democrats, who control the chamber, passed.
Each year lawmakers are required by the state constitution to pass a balanced budget.
The proposed budget for this year calls for the state to increase the money added to its reserve fund by about $130 million. That’s important for both the Democrats as well as Republicans.
Moreover, the proposed budget calls for an increase of more than $275 million to K-12 education, with another $100 million bump to higher ed.
The Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response, which covers fires and floods, saw its allocation increase by more than 10 percent from a year ago.
Kurtis Lee: 303-954-1655, klee@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kurtisalee
