DENVER \u2013 House members overcame their hurt feelings and gave a bipartisan vote to the state budget Friday morning, salvaging at least one big accomplishment for 2013 for which both parties can claim credit.<\/p>\n
Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose, joined eight other Republicans to vote for the $8.2 billion general fund budget, which passed 45-18. In the Senate, no Republicans voted for it \u2013 a reversal from last year, when it passed by a wide bipartisan majority.<\/p>\n
Coram successfully amended the spending plan to pay back $30 million into the state\u2019s account for water project construction. The Legislature plundered the once-robust account from 2008 to 2010 to cope with the recession.<\/p>\n
Coram\u2019s amendment was one of two that House Republicans added. The other one repays the state\u2019s 30-year-old debt to its fire and police pension account, which wasn\u2019t scheduled to be paid off for another six years. The state will save $26 million in interest by paying back the money ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a responsible budget we\u2019re putting before you,\u201d said Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, a member of the Legislature\u2019s budget-writing committee.<\/p>\n
The state saw a windfall of money thanks to an improving economy and taxes on investors in a soaring stock market. Levy said the Legislature is spending the new money responsibly.<\/p>\n
The budget increases the annual reserve that legislators keep for emergencies. It triples the amount available for building construction, and it increases the school budget to keep up with inflation.<\/p>\n
Republicans didn\u2019t like all of the spending plan, especially a 2 percent raise for state employees and the addition of 15 oil and gas well inspectors.<\/p>\n
Still, nine of them voted for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe at the end of the day, more good stuff happened in this budget than bad,\u201d said House Minority Leader Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs.<\/p>\n
Late-night shenanigans nearly blew up the bipartisan agreement Thursday.<\/p>\n
Legislators often propose amendments on the budget to embarrass each other, and Rep. Lori Saine, R-Dacono, had offered three amendments to cut the budget by 5 percent, 1 percent and 0.1 percent \u2013 an attempt to paint Democrats as fiscally irresponsible. When the time came to take recorded votes, however, she offered only two amendments on the smaller cuts.<\/p>\n
Democrats pointed out that her 5 percent cut would have slashed $155 million from public schools, and they offered the amendment themselves in order to get Republicans on the record for a damaging vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know folks, actions have consequences down here,\u201d said Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, sponsor of the gambit.<\/p>\n
Republicans went into a rage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were working toward bipartisan support on this budget, and now this \u2013 the Democratic leadership doing a touchdown dance at the expense of the minority,\u201d said Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch.<\/p>\n
In the end, Pabon withdrew the amendment, and about a third of the Republican caucus voted for the budget. But legislators left for the weekend with hard feelings, and Waller said he worried the fight would carry over into the last month of the Legislature\u2019s annual session.<\/p>\n