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Colorado Democrats Push to Restore Medicaid, Education Funding

At the state capitol, house lawmakers are expected to debate Colorado's $18 billion budget into the evening with Democrats planning to offer amendments on everything from Medicaid to education funding.The state senate already voted to support the budget and Governor Hickenlooper says he’s on board with it in its current form.   But Democratic lawmakers in the house are offering dozens of amendments to the bill to try and restore funding for Medicaid programs, education and corrections, among other things.

 

While those measures will likely spark passionate debate, they won't be the most contentious fights of the day.  Those are expected to surround bills that would cut the state budget. For instance, Democrats largely oppose a measure that would exempt agriculture products such as pesticides as well as and downloaded software from sales taxes.

Those bills were part of a budget compromise between leaders in the Republican controlled house and Democratic controlled senate.

Debate could last late into the night or early morning, especially as the house is planned to break this afternoon for a legislative open house for the public.

Bente Birkeland is an award-winning journalist who joined Colorado Public Radio in August 2018 after a decade of reporting on the Colorado state capitol for the Rocky Mountain Community Radio collaborative and KUNC. In 2017, Bente was named Colorado Journalist of the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), and she was awarded with a National Investigative Reporting Award by SPJ a year later.