Senate Gives Initial OK to $7B Colorado Budget
DENVER (AP) - Colorado senators have given preliminary approval to a $7 billion budget plan, but not before Republicans presented amendments to forbid the state from contracting with abortion providers or from withholding funding from departments and universities.
Those amendments failed Friday. The Senate will take a final vote on the budget Monday before sending it to the House, where a bigger fight is expected over what cuts to make.
The budget plan includes less money for K-12 schools and colleges. The spending plan also calls for the closure of a state prison in Bent County and eliminating several hundred state jobs.
Senators also voted to declare a state fiscal emergency, which allows them to use cigarette and tobacco taxes to balance the budget.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
