DENVER – In a rare victory for bipartisan problem-solving, the state House of Representatives gave initial approval to a state budget on Thursday, spreading the pain of nearly $1 billion in state budget shortfalls across state government and some segments of the taxpaying public.Combining more than $80 million in budget cuts with more than $200 million in revenue increases, the House’s actions on Thursday would close what, according to the latest bleak economic forecasts, would have been a $300 million gap in the 2009-10 budget.

Without some kind of patch, the $300 million would have come out of funding for the state’s public colleges and universities, an outcome that Democratic and Republican leaders described as unacceptable.

Leaders of both parties got together Wednesday night and came to agreement on a series of GOP budget cuts and Democratic revenue-boosters to bring the budget into balance, and when the voice vote was taken Thursday afternoon, only one legislator was heard to say “no.”

Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, said that in his seven years in the Legislature this was “the first time we were ever able to really say we passed a bipartisan budget proposal.” He jokingly proposed a chorus of “Kumbaya” on the House floor.

“When the two sides of the aisle reach out to each other and try to incorporate ideas from both sides, we can do what’s best for Colorado,” said Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker.

Among the major components of the budget-balancing package, state payments for health care programs would decline by nearly $28 million. Grants to local governments, mostly for K-12 education, would fall by $27 million, and the state tourism budget would be cut by $5 million.

And unless their managers can come up with some other way to make up the money, state employees would have to take eight furlough days in the fiscal year that begins July 1. That would save $16 million.

Postponement of a water project on the lower Arkansas River would save $35 million. A college scholarship fund would be tapped for $13 million and a tobacco settlement fund for $30 million.

And in a companion bill, the House voted to suspend the state property tax exemption for the homes of senior citizens, raising $90 million.

For the tobacco measure the House had to declare a financial emergency.

“No one wants to see furloughs, no one wants to see budget cuts,” Carroll said. “We have to make the tough decisions. This is one of them.”

“This budget has to reflect the times that Colorado is in,” said the minority whip, Cory Gardner, R-Yuma. “This budget has to reflect the reality of the revenue that we face.”

Final figures will be hammered out in negotiations with the Senate, which approved a budget package last week that included a $300 million transfer from Pinnacol Assurance, a state workers compensation insurance fund. Amid questions about the legality of the maneuver, that tactic collapsed on Wednesday when Gov. Bill Ritter announced he would not support it.

Despite the substantial changes in the House version of the budget, House leaders said they expect no major problems from the Senate when the two bodies meet in a conference committee to resolve their differences. They said they expect a budget to land on Ritter’s desk by Wednesday.

Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, one of the architects of the House version, said the Senate leadership and Ritter’s office had been consulted on the budget changes. “We’re pretty close to where we’re going to end up,” he said.

Tongue in cheek, Ferrandino offered an amendment furloughing all the Republican legislators for the remainder of the session. “Given the numbers, you really won’t save that much,” Gardner replied.Contact the writer: 476-1654

Michael Johnson Photo by AP PHOTO