Colorado lawmakers finalize the state budget bill and no one is happy
Colorado hospitals will lose more than a half-billion dollars, schools will get $75 million less for classrooms and taxpayers won’t see TABOR refunds in 2018 as state lawmakers shuffled money in a state budget bill that left little to cheer.
The cost-saving maneuvers made room for modest salary increases for state employees and larger pay hikes for judges, lawmakers and elected officials, as well as more money to address problems in youth prisons and child welfare in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
State Rep. Millie Hamner called the cuts to the hospitals a “really tough decision,” but a necessary one, as lawmakers struggled to close a $400 million shortfall.
Colorado State Capitol January 06, 2017. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Colorado State Capitol January 06, 2017. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
