The Colorado Senate on Thursday voted largely along party lines to approve $46.8 billion in spending for the next state budget.

The spending plan is bigger than what legislators originally approved for the current fiscal year’s budget, driven by increases in Medicaid costs.

The proposal saw changes from a dozen amendments during debate Wednesday, but none changed its bottom line.

The 25-10 vote on House Bill 1410 included “yes” votes from Joint Budget Committee member Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, who co-sponsored the bill, and Assistant Minority Leader Sen. Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Rock.

It is now be up to members of the Joint Budget Committee, who will take up the proposal in their role as a conference committee, to resolve the differences between the House and Senate.

The JBC also will likely seek permission to look at changes that go beyond the scope of the differences between the two versions.

That’s expected to take place next week.

Then the clock starts ticking.

Lawmakers hope to have the budget in the hands of Gov. Jared Polis before the end of the month. That matters, because as of May 3, the amount of time the governor has to sign or veto bills changes.

Prior to May 3, the governor has 10 days to sign or veto a bill, or allow it to become law without his signature. After May 3, that clock gets extended to 30 days, and that will expire after the legislature adjourns for the regular session on May 13.

While the governor has authority to veto any line item in the budget, that hasn’t happened during Polis’ time in office or with any other governor in the last several decades.

That’s because the appropriations in the bill deal primarily with departments and personal services — employees and pay — and benefits, rather than specific programs. The governor also has the ability to veto headnotes and footnotes, which are directions from the Colorado General Assembly to state agencies.

Governors who don’t like certain directions will veto them but often tell the agencies to comply with those instructions anyway.

The $46.8 billion budget is about $300 million more than the 2025-26 budget, which was also adjusted during the budget process of the last several weeks. That general fund growth is driven largely by increases tied to the state Medicaid program, which is also beset by allegations of fraud and abuse.

Budget writers noted that 13 out of 20 state agencies saw budget cuts in the 2026-27 appropriations.

The Colorado state government faced a $1.1 billion general fund deficit, according to revenue forecasts from the governor’s economists.

That hole was filled by reducing the state’s general fund reserve from 15% to 13%, which yielded a total general fund savings of $340 million. Cash fund transfers to the general fund provided another $102.5 million.

Cuts to Medicaid, from reductions in provider rates and services for populations, provided another $135 million. Of that, $107 million will come from provider rate cuts in an across-the-board reduction of 2%. Reductions to services for those with intellectual and development disabilities yielded a savings of $17 million.

A placeholder in the budget, at $153 million, will come from using general fund dollars that would otherwise be refunded to taxpayers, the result of an overpayment of TABOR refunds in the 2024-25 fiscal year.

The governor’s budget proposal earlier said the state accidentally overpaid $306.1 million in refunds during the 2025–26 fiscal year.

That idea has drawn pushback from Joint Budget Committee staff, who wrote in a Feb. 20 memo that keeping the $306.1 million — spread across the 2026–27 and 2027–28 budgets — would not be legal.

The Senate also approved the 64 “orbitals” — bills that accompany the budget that change state law in order to balance the spending plan.

Among those bills, seven reduce TABOR obligations to the tune of about $111 million.

The budget also eliminates pay raises for state employees and allows most public colleges and universities to increase tuition by 3.5%, except for out-of-state students and community colleges, where the increase is approved at 5%.