The Spot Blog

House Speaker Mark Ferrandino reminded Republicans upset about a budget fight that they, too, have played hardball partisan politics and pointed to what happened to a civil unions bill last year.

"Both sides play games," the Denver Democrat said Friday. "Not pretty."

The comments from Ferrandino and others came before the House voted to pass a $20.5 billion budget for next fiscal year that calls for more money for schools and colleges and a small raise for state employees.

The budget passed on a 45-18 vote, with nine Republicans joining Democrats to pass the measure. Not a single Republican voted for the budget when it went through the Senate.

The debate before the budget vote centered on what happened on the floor late Thursday during the debate. Republicans were furious that a final amendment from Democrats was the same amendment they had offered but was killed: to make across-the-board cuts of 5 percent to the budget.

The amendment from Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, was symbolic and later withdrawn, but it was introduced to make a point.

Across-the-board cuts are akin to using a "meat axe" instead of a "scalpel," said Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, a member of the Joint Budget Committee that drafted that budget.

Democrats charged that Republicans didn't want to try to revive that amendment later in the evening because it would have meant recorded votes on an amendment that would have cut $155 million to education.

But Rep. Lori Saine, R-Dacano, said she didn't offer it because she was told there already was an amendment that was going to be offered.

Two Republicans, House Minority Leader Mark Waller, of Colorado Springs, and Rep. Frank McNulty, of Highlands Ranch, ripped Democrats Thursday for the amendment and they were still smarting Friday morning when the House was scheduled to take an official vote on the bill.

Waller called it a "cheap parlor trick," but he said he would still vote for the budget because "at the end of the day it's about compromise" and Democrats were willing to make some changes Republicans fought for.

McNulty said that he hopes "the path we choose is one that brings us together and is not a path that divides us." He also voted for the budget.

Ferrandino then addressed his colleagues about what happened during Thursday's debate.

Ferrandino specifically mentioned McNulty when he said "We should not forget history when we talk about partisan games."

"Don't come down to this well and act like this only happened (Thursday) night and it is so different than any other time because all we need to look back to is the second to last day of the session," the speaker said, referring to 2012.

Republicans were in charge and McNulty served as the speaker. He refused to call up Ferrandino's civil unions measure up for debate knowing the votes where there to pass it and the bill died a dramatic death.

Democrats won back the majority in November and Ferrandino became speaker.

Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, or