Conference Committee OKs $27 Billion Colorado Budget

DENVER (AP) - A bipartisan conference committee quickly resolved a dispute over clean air funding to settle on a $27 billion state budget.

Monday's compromise cuts nearly $112,000 from the state's air quality unit.

That's a nod to Senate Republicans who protested state work on a federal clean air plan that's been put on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court.

But it doesn't eliminate any air quality jobs - allowing Colorado to keep working on its own clean air plan.

The committee will send the revised budget to the Democrat-led House and GOP-led Senate this week.

The budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 includes a slight increase for K-12 schools and no cuts for state colleges. It slashes $73 million for hospitals, part of a complicated arrangement to avoid even deeper cuts later.