DENVER – They say no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, no matter how meticulously it is thought out. The same can be said of Colorado’s $28.3 billion budget, which continued to transform Thursday in the face of a mountain of amendments in the state House of Representatives.
The state’s budget, which drew criticism from both parties from the day it was introduced, faced a barrage of 47 prospective changes by the Senate. Most of those were rejected by Republicans in the chamber or stripped once it passed to the House.
On Thursday, 93 new amendments were thrown into the mix.
The process was moving along slowly but surely until the 64th amendment, which would have stripped state funding for cities classified as sanctuary cities, was ruled out of order at 8 p.m.
In response. Rep. Dave Williams, R-Colorado Springs, asked that the 600-plus page Long Bill be read in its entirety by the non-partisan House staffers.
Amendment 64 was the second one from Williams that had been ruled out of order. The first was a measure that would have taken state funding away from public colleges that “engage in sale, purchase, trafficking, or trading in aborted baby body parts.”
The GOP said this was a response to an attempt by the Democrats to railroad the process and introduce Washington-style politics into the legislature by not accepting multiple amendments they had proposed.
“If the Democrats are interested in shutting down debate, I will help them do that,” Williams said.
That immediately drew the ire of Democrats, and sparked a debate over the ruling against Williams’ amendments at the press table.
“You guys are setting the precedent of punishing the staff because you’re throwing a temper tantrum,” said Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton.
Calling for the reading of the Long Bill at length is a rarely used effort that is the equivalent of a filibuster.
Several staffers joined Connor Randall, the House reading clerk, and simultaneously read portions of the bill to expedite the process to 30 minutes.
Before the spat, the House had made its way through 63 of the proposed amendments, 20 of which were approved.
Of interest to Southwest Colorado was an amendment to shift roughly $16 million in funding from the Hospital Provider Fee to assist the hospitals most vulnerable to closing because of the $264 million cut they face as a result of the budget balancing process.
Rep. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose, presented the House with a stack of more than 200 letters from residents of Cortez who had written to him expressing their concern that Southwest Memorial Hospital might be in danger.
Catlin said the outpouring from constituents compelled him to address the House and stand behind the amendment.
“We simply cannot afford the human cost of losing our hospitals, period. Somebody’s got to do something,” Catlin said.
The amendment was approved by the House and will be added to the Long Bill when it eventually goes back to the Joint Budget Committee.
Debate on the bill continued late Thursday.
lperkins@durangoherald.com
