Mascot change, state budget at issue in legislative session

State House lawmakers wrapped up their work on the 2023-24 state budget as contained in Senate Bill 214, with Republicans winning some key concessions that added amendments to the budget.

Among the amendments added: $354,701 to pay for the costs of replacing the Indian mascots at the Yuma School District.

Most significantly, Rep. Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango, agreed to carry the amendment, along with Rep. Richard Holtorf, R-Akron. McLachlan was one of the House sponsors on Senate Bill 21-116, the measure that mandated the mascot changes. In this matter, she took a decidedly different position than the bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, who advocated against a similar amendment when the budget bill was in the Senate.

While the amendment was intended to divide up the funds among the 26 schools that had to replace their mascots, sources told this reporter the money is supposed to go only to the Yuma schools.

The $38.5 billion budget for 2023-24 swelled by more than $105 million during the past week. That pushes the budget out of balance, at least temporarily. During the next week, the Joint Budget Committee will work to resolve the two versions of the budget for final approval by the General Assembly.

House Republicans added seven amendments, including the Yuma schools amendment, to the budget. That also included $5 million for the community crime victims grant program within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and $30 million for the Colorado Crime Victim Services Fund in the Department of Public Safety.

Cease-fire on filibusters

The Republican amendments adopted by the House were part of a deal between the two parties to halt filibusters by Republicans that had been going on for the better part of two weeks over gun control and bills tied to abortion, gender-affirming care for transgender individuals and outlawing deceptive advertising by pregnancy centers.

Republicans had threatened to have the 622-page budget bill read at length, a reading that would have taken at least 14 hours and which they could have sought twice. Democrats agreed to the amendments in exchange for Republicans giving up their demand that the bill be read in its entirety. It also gave lawmakers the Good Friday/Easter weekend off, given that Democrats threatened to require everyone to work the weekend if the bill was read at length.

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