State budget writers on Thursday finally got to working out differences between House and Senate versions of the annual spending plan, leaving in tact several key amendments.

Efforts to fund a survey given to students remained in the estimated $26.8 billion budget, along with using marijuana money to support housing and homeless services.

Budget writers also reconciled an issue that arose when lawmakers passed amendments that would have cut salaries for judges. The legislature had intended on eliminating a proposed 3.15 percent raise for judges, which would save about $2.2 million, but it passed too many amendments, which would have resulted in a cut. After the Joint Budget Committee’s work, those salaries would remain flat.

Budget writers also preserved an amendment that would fund implementation of Proposition 106, which allows terminally ill patients to request medication that would end their life.

And the committee allotted $750,000 to help fill nine vacant oil and gas inspector positions.

An issue that saw some of the most chatter from the JBC dealt with a proposal to reduce revenue generated by the Hospital Provider Fee by $264 million. The move would negatively impact hospitals, especially in rural parts of the state, with some hospitals saying they would close. But it is necessary to balance the budget.

The House backed an amendment that would add a footnote to the budget encouraging the state to limit Hospital Provider Fee expenditures for administrative functions in order to apply the savings to support rural hospitals. But budget writers said they had to strip the proposal.

“We clearly have some rural hospitals who are in trouble, and the attempt here is a noble attempt to put aside some money for hospitals that might otherwise close,” said Rep. Bob Rankin, R-Carbondale, a member of the JBC. “We discovered this is probably not doable … But I do want to acknowledge the intent here.”

Budget writers were unable to move forward with reconciling differences between the two versions of the budget because House Democrats had held up passage of several budget “orbital” bills that are part of the package.

Democrats in the House wanted to wait on the bills, which included the Hospital Provider Fee reduction and cutting General Fund transportation spending, as separate bills around a restructuring of the Hospital Provider Fee and transportation funding made their way through the process. Had the bills passed, lawmakers might have been able to spare the cuts to hospitals.

The transportation funding bill died, and the Hospital Provider Fee restructure is facing an uphill battle as conversations continue to see complications. The House moved the orbital bills forward this week, allowing the Joint Budget Committee to continue its work on passing a balanced budget.

The budget heads back to the legislative chambers to approve the Joint Budget Committee’s work before it can head to Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, for his signature. Conversations around the budget this year have been more drawn-out than in years past, according to Capitol observers.

Hickenlooper’s office made the marijuana money for homeless and housing a priority. The money was at first not included in the budget, but lawmakers amended it. The original proposal called for $16.3 million for housing and homeless services, but budget writers on Thursday lowered that to $15.3 million. It’s still a major win for the governor.

Democrats were also able to convince Republicans to support $40,000 to provide female prisoners with better access to tampons.

The Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, a voluntary anonymous survey that serves to collect information on youth trends, saw heated opposition from a handful of Republicans when the amendment was debated in the two chambers. But the JBC ultimately voted 4-2 to keep the money in the budget, over objections from Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud.

When it came to film incentives, lawmakers met in the middle. The Senate had proposed eliminating incentives meant to attract the film industry to Colorado, while the House had proposed $1.5 million. The JBC settled on $750,000.

Meanwhile, a controversial Democratic amendment that would have prohibited the attorney general from suing a local government on behalf of a private corporation, was stripped from the so-called “Long Bill.” The proposal took aim at Republican Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, who filed a lawsuit against Boulder County over its oil and gas drilling moratorium.

Despite the troubled budget, the proposal reflects a nearly 7 percent increase in discretionary spending over the current fiscal year. Budget writers carved out about $10.6 billion for the General Fund, which represents discretionary spending. The total budget would reflect a more than 4 percent increase over the current fiscal year.